The Long Way Home
by canttouchthis87
Summary: Eight years after Angel left, Buffy is happy leading a normal life. But a series of random events will force Buffy to question all that she's taken for granted.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Buffy is the property of Joss Whedon and co.

**Summery: Eight years after Angel left, Buffy is happy leading a normal life. But a series of random events will force Buffy to question all that she's taken for granted.**

**A/N: **There's a lot of Seasons 1-4 spoilers here but after that it's completely AU. Also, some characters  
(in particular Riley) may not be all too similar to their TV counterparts in that I needed them to be more likable and practical to the story.

**Chapter 1**

Buffy looked at herself and couldn't help but smile. She was truly a sight to behold. After a quick spin she knew it in her gut - this was her wedding dress. It was a simple white dress, not all that different from the one she wore when she destroyed the Master all those years ago. She smiled to herself - she never imagined back in high school that she would have the chance to get married.

"Buffy? Are you ever going to come out of there?" She heard his voice and her eyes sparkled. When Angel left all those years ago, she never imagined being with another man again. True she was young and naive in many ways but she knew that love was real. Then she met Riley. Her heart raced just thinking about him. The two of them had been together through thick and thin and she was truly ready to give her heart to him forever, or as long as her slayer life would last.

At the age of 26, she was now, according to Giles at least, the oldest slayer to date. Rather than becoming a fatalist and believing her time was up she became a fervent believer that by sheer will power she could live as long as any ordinary human.

It also helped that she wasn't the only slayer. After months in a coma, Faith finally died and though tragic as it was, a new slayer was chosen. Buffy occasionally worked with the girl but for the most part they worked independently. It was because of her, Buffy didn't feel too guilty about choosing to lead her own life. Granted she still slayed but it didn't cosume her as much as it once did.

In fact, she graduated college with a degree in criminal justice. She remembered thinking to herself that maybe that career assessment she took back in high school wasn't a complete joke. Of course, then she recalled the officer who attended the fair tried to murder her so she didn't feel too guilty for not taking the whole thing seriously. Now, she was a full time detective for the Sunnydale Police Department and a part time consultant for the heavily reformed initiative. Two years after graduating college, Riley asked her to marry him and together they've lived in a comfortable 3 bedroom split level since.

Buffy took a deep breath and left the dressing room, her eyes glowing and a genuine smile splashed over her face. He stood up and admired her, the woman of his dreams. She did a spin, holding her arms at her side like a ballerina and Riley was reminded that he was the luckiest guy in the world.

When he met Buffy, she had been that peculiar girl who always seemed in her own world. Something about her drew him in and he couldn't get enough. He remembered the day the town went mute and he discovered she was the Slayer. He couldn't believe he had found the one girl he could truly share his life with.

Sure, things hadn't always been easy. Dr. Walsh and some of the other initiative folk weren't too happy with Buffy's inquisitive nature and "old fashioned" way of doing things but in the end, things worked out. In fact, following the Adam "incident", Buffy was quite influential in Initiative policy and procedure as well as training.

With the emergence of a new slayer and a helpful initiative, their lives were practically normal. Sure, every now and then some big bad would should up trying to create trouble for the Slayer but with the resources at the couple's disposal, they were more or less able to avoid any and all apocalypses.

The only thing that had ever worried Riley was _him_. Buffy had told him about Angel, sure, but every time she did, it seemed like she was holding back. _'O Riley, he was just some boyfriend in high school. You really don't have to worry about him'_. He was always afraid of running into the kid at some time or another but never did. _'He left after I graduated high school, I guess we just weren't working out'_.

What really bothered him wasn't her talking about Angel but the way her friends got. Every time any story came up with Angel in it Willow's face would lose all color as if she were about to divulge some deep dark secret. And Xander's would turn a dark shade of purple and it would seem he was holding in some anger Riley couldn't possibly fathom.

But Angel never came around. And more importantly, Buffy never went looking for him or ever really longed for him. She was truly happy and truly loved Riley.

"You. Look. Beautiful." He told her, his eyes full of love and lust for his fiancee.

"Do I? I was worried it was too casual. Apparently, it's not actually a wedding dress." She told him, the last part of it in a chuckled whisper.

"I don't care what it is. You'll still be the only thing anyone can look at on our wedding day." He told her. Neither of them having much wealth, they planned a simple and inexpensive wedding. They figured their wedding day didn't matter so much as the rest of their lives. Sure, Willow and Buffy's mother were disappointed they wouldn't be able to spend months planning for some ornate celebration but it was Buffy's big day so they stopped protesting and went along with it.

She gave him a quick peck on the lips and ran back into her dressing room to change, humming a tune to herself and doing a small dance. Never could she had imagined her life ending up like this. She had everything she could ever ask for - a real job, a man whom she loves, the closest friends she could imagine, and all of it while being the slayer.

After paying for the dress, she and Riley left the store and walked into the sun hand in hand.

* * *

Across the country, Angel stood in a dimly lit room hitting a punching bag over and over until it fell from the ceiling. He sighed, having barely broken a sweat. He knew he needed to get a new bag, or a sturdier chain, or something. He looked at his watch and realized it was barely 3:00 PM - he would be stuck in this basement for another few hours.

He'd only been in Washington D.C. for a month and he was all ready to move onto his next city. Ever since he helped Buffy stop the Mayor's ascension, he had been running. From what, to what? He himself wasn't all that sure. He figured this was the best way he could help, go from city to city, fighting any evil thing he could find. He had become a robot to some extent, go to city, find evil, destroy evil, repeat.

But it felt good. And every time he stuck a wooden stake in a vampire he knew he was doing the right thing. Every demon he impaled, every evil thing he demolished, it felt like he was making a difference.

Some days it really felt like he was. In DC alone, he had rid the city of a nest of vampires who seemed to view the city as an all you can eat buffet. And he did it all in secret, alone. Sure, he met the occasional demon fighter along the way or potential slayer or watcher but for the most part, he lived a solitary existence.

Was it redemption? Sure, in some way it was. But he acknowledged that given all the evil he committed, redemption wasn't likely in the cards for him. Besides, with the whole soul/no soul thing it all got annoyingly complicated. For Angel, it was simple: he knew what was out there, he knew it was evil, he had power, he was going to stop it.

Buffy. She was the only thing that ever gave him pause. Every time he saw the back of a petite blonde he would pause, for a second wondering if it was her. Then she would turn and he would realize immediately his mistake. But still, she was on his mind, no matter how much he didn't want her to be.

How old is she now, he wondered to himself. 25? No, 26._ I havn't seen her in 8 years._ He took a moment to wonder what her life was like. He assumed she was alive, he would have heard something if she had died.

After completing his 4th set of sit ups, Angel took a look at the map of the United States he had pinned up on the wall. _Don't really want to go back to New York City. Or LA. Maybe I'll go back to Cleveland - Hellmouth and all, they're destined to have some evil afoot._ And like that, he resigned himself to leave DC.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Buffy and Riley's home was not your ordinary house. Their three bedrooms consisted of a tiny bedroom, a larger study, and a yet larger gym. In fact, the gym expanded into the living room where a few free weights were usually left out. As Willow knocked and let herself in, she heard the usual sound of a body being slammed on wood. She winced, hoping it wasn't Riley. She then heard the sound of Buffy giving him some tip and stood outside watching the couple spar.

She smiled at two of her closest friends. They shared everything together, it was enough to make anyone envious. After watching Buffy dodge a kick and bring Riley painfully to the floor, Willow loudly coughed to make her presence known.

"Willow!" Buffy exclaimed, smiling as she ran over to greet her best friend.

"Hi Buffy, Hi Riley." She waved. Riley waved and smiled weakly, slowly getting up.

"Oh don't mind him. All this wedding planning has made him off his game." Buffy informed her, sending a joking smile Riley's way.

"I miss the days when we first started dating. Remember? You used to go easy on me?" Riley reminded her, his eyes pleading.

"Yeah, but then I said yes so now I have to make sure you don't get killed by a vampire." She informed him,

Confused, Riley responded, "But then it was okay?"

Buffy shook her head. "Well, I would have been sad and all, but now it would be a whole lot more paper work and all in all just not worth it". She told him with a straight face. After a moment of feeling his glare, she broke down and laughed and he joined her, slightly relieved.

"So Will, what brings you our way?" Buffy asked.

"We have a problem." She told the two out right. Buffy and Riley immediatly assumed a serious face and led Willow out of the gym and into the study. They each sat around the table in the center of the room and Willow grabbed some papers out of her bag. "Well actually two problems." She informed them.

"First of all, the florist is having trouble finding daisies, apparently, theres an issue with them this season." She told them. Buffy's face immediatly saddened.

"No daisies?" She gave Willow her puppy eyes.

"Well some daisies, but you need another flower or else the place will look well, awkward." She informed them. Buffy and Riley turned towards one another, whispering about the situation and finally Riley turned back to Willow and told her Tulips would be fine.

"Well now that that's settled our good friend Spike is back in town." Willow stopped to let that bit of information sink in. Back during the initiative's beginnings, Spike had been implanted with a chip that made him incapable of harming humans. While the group was weary of him he tended to do more good than harm (though whether this was intentional or not remained to be seen.) For the most part, he ventured on his own, occasionally returning to Sunnydale for news or to simply annoy the gang.

"Oh great. What now?" Buffy asked, her voice clearly full of annoyance. While Spike being back in town was annoying it wouldn't be classified as a problem. Hence, there had to be more to it.

"He claims and I quote 'Some big bad demon bloke's comin' to town to kill everyone and open the hellmouth!'", Willow told them in a British accent that actually came out more Australian than anything else, "he seemed pretty excited about it but then he realized it would probably mean the end of the world and reluctantly decided he should help us." She finished.

"Do you think he's telling the truth?" Riley asked. Sure, Spike has helped them in the past but his loyalties were first and foremost to himself so he wouldn't put it past Spike to formulate some master plan if it means he would gain something.

"Unfortunately, the signs are there. I consulted Tara and she agreed that something is going to happen. Of course, this could all be a coincidence but..."

"It's doubtful." Buffy finished for her. She took a deep breath and continued, "Well, it's been a solid few years since our last apocalypse so I guess we do have it coming."

"Well, if it's okay with you two I figured we'd hold a meeting here tomorrow night to pool information and get a start on this. The good news is it looks like we may have time to nip this thing in the butt." Willow smiled with that last piece of optimism.

Buffy and Riley looked at one another, communicating without words. Finally, Buffy agreed to the meeting and the three friends switched to a lighter topic.

After about an hour, Willow finally left leaving Buffy and Riley alone to dwell on their unique lives. The two sat, absorbed in one another's company, until Riley's beeper went off. "Well, that's my cue." He smiled at her, gave her a quick kiss and headed off to work.

-----------

"Welcome to Cleveland", Angel read out loud as he passed the city limits. It was night time and he could practically feel the demonic activity taking place.

While he never stayed in one place for long, Cleveland was arguably the closest thing he had to a home. He usually stopped by here at least once a year, sometimes only for a weekend but sometimes longer. Angel enjoyed the challenge of the hellmouth and the seemingly never ending evil that was attracted to it but also found it bread in him a sense of hopelessness. It was the hopelessness that would inevitably lead him on the road before he lay down any substantial roots.

After setting up camp in an abandoned house quite close to a cemetery, he began an on foot patrol expanding a mile radius from the house. Luck would have him find evidence of a small nest of vampires within a crypt in the cemetery.

He entered the door, prepared to make some witty remark like 'Hi honey I'm home' when he noticed instead of a few vampires there were a few piles of dust. Angel turned his head in wonder and set out to investigate when he felt a something headed his way. Using his superior reflexes, he caught the wooden stake and found the man who sent it. Seeking to avoid a confrontation, he left as soon as possible and ran in a roundabout way back to the house.

_'What's going on?'_ he thought to himself. Taking a second glance at the wooden stake, he realized it didn't looked widdled but manufactured. Then he remembered the source - some mechanized cross bow held by some commando type. What was happening? Angel ran a hand through his hair, trying to put the pieces together. The military hunting demons maybe?

It was moments like these that Angel regretted his sedentary life style. He didn't have the resources to figure out what was going on. In the end, he figured he'd try and keep low key and gather whatever information he could.

After a restless sleep consisting of hazy dream about some human demon hybrid trying to kill him, he began his usual workout. Once again, the punching bag fell from the ceiling and he sighed, reminding himself he really needed to buy a new one. 'Being a vampire is over rated' he thought to himself. Sure, having super strength and immortality was cool for a while but what would he give to stand outside in the sun for five minutes? To go to businesses at normal hours, but no. He was stuck in this worn down house until the sun set.

When he first left Sunnydale, he tried to go to cities where there was little sunlight. He even went to Alaska in the winter when the sun was only out for a few hours each day. In the end, however, he found the lack of sun demoralizing for some reason. More than anything else,though the irregular days frightened him.

He watched, a reasonable distance from the window, as the sun set and dark fell upon the city. Upon leaving the house, he hiked through the cemetery, more cautious than the previous night, seeking any evidence of who these commandos were.

A part of him wasn't sure why he cared. From the evidence laid out before him, these were good guys who did what he did. Sure, they tried to kill him but he was a vampire who entered the crypt of a nest of vampires so could you blame them? But he had to make sure it was that simple.

He was deep in his own thoughts when suddenly Angel heard the sound of a twig breaking. Brought out of his daze, he immediately judged his surroundings. Realizing the vampire was aware of their presence, the 8 man squad began an attack. Angel had to take advantage of his superior reflexes and surroundings to avoid being tazed. Next, three men came out and attacked him head on. 'Oh great' he thought to himself. he easily defended himself against the men while trying to use as little force as possible. He continued to fight them off, even as more tried to subdue him. Finally, having moved the fight towards a nearby woods, he camoflouged with the night and fled.

Once back at the house, he didn't think twice. He packed up his stuff in the car and took off heading no where in particular - just away from this town and these people. He just hoped leaving town was enough to get them off his back.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The next morning in Sunnydale, California, Buffy woke up disappointed to find that Riley had already left for work. Lazily, she slapped her alarm off and meandered to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

Being a detective was in no way something she ever imagined doing, before or after being called upon as the slayer. But in hindsight, the job really made sense. She was physically more capable of doing the job than anyone else, and her knowledge of the city and its scummy underside gave her a unique edge. And perhaps most importantly, she tended to get a heads up when something big was going down.

She was hoping to gather some information before their scooby meeting later that night. Trying to be discreet, the picked up some random files that had yet to be assigned. Two were murder cases and one may have been a vampire but none held the signs of a sacrifice or ritual. The others consisted of a case of spousal abuse and two cases of assault. She was both annoyed and relieved that nothing here screamed that there was a demon rising. With a heavy sigh, she put the folders back and headed to her desk.

"Here ya go, Buff." Charlie opened his mouth in a wide smile as he set a chai latte in front of Buffy.

"Oh thank you. I don't know what I'd do without you." Buffy told her partner of three years. Charlie was a few years older and reaked of macho badass detective. To say they clashed when they first met was an understatement. Charlie didn't understand why he had to babysit some little girl who passed a few tests. Needless to say, Buffy didn't like him.

Their first assignment was a relatively straight forwards murder case. Only things got ugly when the two came to arrest the guy and he pulled a gun. Without really thinking, Buffy instantly kicked the gun out of his hand and caught it without breaking a sweat. While Charlie might have been able to handle the situation himself he was nevertheless impressed with the Buffy's finesse.

Charlie suspected something was up with Buffy, she was this tiny thing who seemed to fear nothing. But he tended to just be grateful that someone like Buffy has his back. He's seen what can happen when someone has a weak partner and he'd hate for that to happen to him.

"So, what've we got?" She asked.

"Well, it's a big one. Some cult apparently has shown up in Sunnydale." He paused, letting that much sink it. "The Feds are obviously all over it but since Sunnydale is something of a black hole, they're going to be a while." Buffy rolled her eyes in response to this. "In the mean time, they've sent us some information." He handed her a folder about 1/2 an inch thick.

This was a huge case, Buffy knew but she wasn't surprised. The death rate of Sunnydale was enormous so the fact that she and Charlie were still alive and had such a high case resolution rate meant that they were given the juicy stuff. Of course, Buffy smiled to herself, if this were LA or DC the Feds wouldn't let them near this folder but that damn hellmouth seemed to effectively place Sunnydale in an impenetrable force field.

Buffy flipped through the papers, trying to get a grasp of what the situation was. While no official name was designated the Feds had taken to calling them the "Hell Cult". Some kind of devil worshipers, no doubt. It didn't surprise Buffy that they had come to the hellmouth.

"How bad are these guys?" Buffy asked while continuing to skim through the papers which consisted of at best guesses on who these guys are.

"Well, it seems that wherever they go, a lot of people tend to die." He told her, "Of course, these deaths have never actually been linked back to the cult but it's still a connection." Buffy turned the page and found a picture of one of the bodies, apparently mutilated, part of its corpse burnt. She found herself turning away, even her slayer self horrified at the site. "Again, never been directly connected."

"Has anything like this shown up in Sunnydale?" She asked, a little terrified to find out the answer.

"No, not yet at least. Though the group is prone to stay in one place for a long period of time." He finished, a little disheartened.

"And why havn't they been stopped? Even if all the murder evidence is circumstantial, shouldn't someone have done something?" Buffy asked.

"Next page." Charlie told her. Buffy turned the page and was shocked to find a list of missing federal agents. "It seems every time an agent got close enough to uncover the truth they'd disappear without a trace."

"Well," Buffy began, "it seems we've got out work cut out for us."

-----

At the Initiative, Riley sat in a small meeting room with the other team leaders. He hated these weekly meetings because it meant not being able to see Buffy before she headed to work.

The night before, he had been called in for a video conference. About a year ago, the Initiative set up bases throughout the country, mostly in big cities but also one in Cleveland where the other hellmouth resided. Whenever it was possible, Riley would try and communicate with the team leaders from the other bases to keep track of everything.

Recently, he as well as a few other higher ups had started to notice nests of vampires and particularly strong demons being killed with no trace of the killer. At first, Riley suspected the second slayer but after talking with Buffy it was discovered she was in Europe and therefore likely had nothing to do with the killings. In Riley's experience, demon hunters outside of the initiative were incredibly rare, and tended to rarely get anything done. Therefore, the realization that someone was knocking off a whole lot of evil was pretty big.

The Initiative had started to refer to this guy or group as "the Vigilante". A secondary mission of the Initiative was to try and find who or whatever this Vigilante is. Last night, however, the only update was that DC appeared to be rid of a nest of particularly hungry vampires but the Vigilante appears not to have made any moves since. The only real news of interest came from Cleveland. One of their best teams came up against a vampire and were incapable of killing him. The interesting part was, he didn't kill them and simply ran away.

While Riley certainly found this interesting he was more interested in this Vigilante. He remembered how much of a boost Buffy joining up was for the initiative. They went from a group of soldiers to a true force to be reckoned with. Perhaps they could become even stronger with the addition of this person or group.

Currently, the team leaders were going over reports of their stats. How many kills, how many got away, etc. After the Adam incident, they only killed, never captured. They learned nothing good could come out of keeping these demons alive. However, they also learned there was no reason to go killing every demon they came across. Hence, all members were required to study up on which demons were harmless, friendly, or deadly.

Riley, while not technically the commander of the Sunnydale base was treated like one. Perhaps it was because he rebelled when the place went to hell all those years ago but regardless, he was often respected and treated as the de facto leader. Everyone also knew not to mess with him because then they would have Buffy to deal with.

Without having to think, he regurgitated the stats regarding 'alpha team' and concluded the meeting. For the next half an hour, he walked around the base keeping an eye on all that was going on as he often did. Eventually, he made his way to the gym and helped some of the newer recruits with hand to hand.

"I know it seems ridiculous to carry a stake around with you, but trust me, it can really come in handy." He explained to the recruit. The young man, barely twenty years old, rolled his eyes, in the firm belief Riley was wrong. Riley simply shook his head and moved on. 8 years and counting on the field and some still doubted him.

As Riley turned to leave he could hear the boy making fun of him, and could see in the glass door's reflection the boy mimicking the act of staking a vampire. A few of his fellow recruits laughed while a few others rolled their eyes. Riley simply smiled - he knew this boy had his first class with Buffy that afternoon.

Heading to the mess hall, Riley couldn't help his thoughts floating back to his fiancee. In only two weeks, he would be marrying Buffy and he couldn't wait. A part of him couldn't believe it - he truly felt like the luckiest guy in the world. Why on earth did this woman, who radiated strength and beauty and had the most wonderful heart, choose him? Most days, he chose not to question it but just to accept he was that lucky.

His thoughts were interrupted by Graham sitting across from him at the table. "Day dreaming about the missus?" He asked. Riley perked his head up and grinned. Graham was one of the few members of the original Initiative still around. In addition to the high mortality rate that first year, many members were transferred to other projects because they were unable to handle the monsters that haunted the night. As a result, he and Graham had developed a close almost brotherly bond over the years.

"You know me, madly in love." Riley responded. Graham simply shook his head and continued eating.

"Is Buffy still coming in for a training session later?" Graham asked. He loved watching Buffy with the new recruits. Leave it to the tiny girl to put even the toughest soldiers into place.

"Yeah, she gets off of work at 2:00 today and should be heading over here shortly after." Riley responded, a hint of pride in his voice.

"You going to assist?" Graham asked. When the Initiative was quiet, Riley would often help Buffy on her first day. This was often in the form of Riley getting his ass kicked but he was willing to do it. Graham couldn't help but be a little jealous of what the two of them had - he wanted to be around her even if it literally hurt.

"I figure I have nothing better to do." Riley took a few bites and continued, "it is day light after all."

Graham chuckled, "It is. So," he awkwardly shifted the conversation, "you nervous? You're getting married in two weeks!"

Riley shook his head and gave a toothy grin. "Not in the slightest. As far as I'm aware, in two weeks, I'll be the luckiest guy in the world."

"Man," Graham rolled his eyes, "sometimes your giddiness sickens me. I swear, it's unnatural. Though I guess it makes sense, she is the Slayer after all." The two shared a slight smile.

Over the loudspeaker, Riley was asked to report to the colonel in command. The two friends wished one another luck and went their seperate ways.


	4. Chapter 4

After passing the retinal scan, Buffy entered the elevator that would take her down to the Initiative headquarters in Sunnydale. She happened to find the tight security rather hilarious - it made her feel like she was in a spy movie.

Whether she would admit it or not she loved rookie training sessions. Sure, it boosted her ego to influence policy and she liked a good hunt as much as the next Slayer but seeing 6 foot 200 pound soldiers stare at her in fear gave her such a rush. And she knew it filled Riley with untold pride.

One of the ways she could figure out who was new on the base was how people looked at her. The older people who had been around for years treated her like one of their own. Those who were newer sometimes saluted her or behaved in a way that showed they respected or feared her. The newest people looked at her as if she was lost.

She made her way to one of the training rooms where a group of 15 or so recruits were sparring amongst themselves. Buffy cringed as she watched their sloppy and ungraceful moves. She walked around, getting an awkward glare from a few of the boys but mostly being ignored. The beauty of these training session was that they had no idea what was going to happen. They figured Riley or some other old timer would show them a few moves - they had no idea what they were getting themselves into.

As if on cue, Riley walked in with Graham following shortly after. Aware of his presence, the majority of the recruits quieted down and turned to face their de facto commander. Riley, as he did every time, shrugged and looked towards Buffy. Curious the boys turned around and she began.

"Welcome to your first real day of training." She began. The recruits looked at her confused, a few whispered amongst themselves until Graham shushed them. "Thanks Graham. Anyways, you all have passed the physical evaluations and the psych exams so technically you're all fit to fight the monsters. I'm here to actually show you how to do it." The recruits looked skeptical at best. Most assumed this was some kind of joke. "Well - who wants to fight?" Buffy asked. The recruits all chuckled, she heard the whispers of 'I'm not going to fight a girl!' Finally, Riley raised his hand.

"Riley, sweetie, are you sure?" Buffy asked. At this point, the interaction was practically scripted they've gone through it so many times.

"Hey, you know me, I love a good fight!" The soldiers looked in shock as he and Buffy walked towards one another. They stood opposite one another in the center of the room on a 10 ft square mat. The recruits naturally formed a circle around them. Graham stood towards the back, with a huge grin on his face mumbling 'I love this part'.

"Now for this demonstration, I'm going to be the hunter and Riley's going to be the vampire. His goal is to bite me and my goal is to stake him or behead him. Any questions?" The soldiers continued to stare, trying to figure out what was really going on.

In a soft voice so only Buffy would hear Riley asked, "take it easy on me this time, will ya?" to which Buffy merely responded with "now what's the fun in that?"

Without so much as hesitation, Buffy began with a punch that knocked Riley a couple feet back. The room immediately became silent as the recruits watched. Riley quickly got up and attempted a similar move only for Buffy to duck and kick her foot around and trip him. Aware Buffy was about to stake him, Riley immediately rolled over and grabbed her shoulders to pull her down. But Buffy quickly hopped back to her feet as did Riley. The two circled each other.

Buffy jabbed her left foot out and kicked him leaving Riley a little out of breath but still on his feet. Impressed, Buffy did the same move only with a spin and more power. Riley was immediately on the ground. To exaggerate her victory, Buffy completed a back handspring and grabbed her stake and dramatically placed it above his heart.

The room was dead silent, and suddenly Graham started clapping. The recruits were for the most part in awed, though some of them thought it was all a set up for something. Buffy stood up and offered Riley a hand, apologizing if she hurt him. "Whose next?" She asked with a completely straight face..

The boy Riley recognized from earlier raised his hand and with a cocky grin approached Buffy. Before beginning, he told her he "was sorry" for what he was about to do to which Buffy merely shrugged her shoulders. Unlike the previous fight, the boy began by swinging his right fist towards her. Buffy grabbed his arm, pulled him into a head lock in front of her. Reaching into her back pocket, she grabbed a stake and quickly pretended to jab him.

"What's your name?" She asked the boy after releasing him.

"Eric." He responded. "What are you?" He asked, uncomfortably. The sentiment seemed to be echoed throughout the room. Buffy merely laughed.

"I'm the Slayer." The revelation was met with a few nods but mostly more confused looks. "It means I was chosen to fight the monsters that haunt the night. It's my duty and I'm therefore stronger and faster than any mere human. It also means I know more than anyone on this base about how to kill them. And I've probably killed more than everyone here combined." At this point, the only other noise in the room was Graham and Riley whispering to one another under their breath. "I'm here to teach you how to not get killed. I'm also here to help you get over your love for modern technology because guns won't kill these guys. If you listen to me, Riley, and the others who have been here a while you might stand a chance to live."

Riley nodded at Buffy who smiled in turn. Over the past 7 years, she had perfected this speech. Well, this entire training session had really become scripted. It was a wordless agreement that no one would tell the new recruits who Buffy was. Almost everyone agreed that the best intro to the supernatural was literally to see the supernatural in action.

The two hour long session continued with Buffy explaining various 'old-fashioned' weapons and how they could easily save their lives. Eventually, she began to teach them how best to fight a stronger demon, using Riley as the dummy. The soldiers left, while perhaps not better fighters, at the very least more aware to what was really out there.

"So, I think that went well." Buffy smiled at Riley as they walked hand in hand towards the exit.

"It always goes well." He told her with a slight smirk, "I think my favorite part though is after they've been here for a month and they think they can take you."

Buffy chuckled, "O yeah! I remember once - Benny I think his name was...he made this whole scene of challenging me. Quite embarrasing."

"So do you think any of them would be good candidates for working here?" Riley asked. The way the system worked, all new recruits for the Initiative project came to Sunnydale. From there, it was determined where they would go next. For the most part, only the best would actually stay in Sunnydale since being on the hellmouth it was the most dangerous.

"I'm not sure. Give them some time, and I really need to see them out in the field first. Someone can be a great fighter on a mat but if they can't hack it against a real vampire, they're useless." Riley nodded in agreement. Usually about 3 out of 15 new recruits got kicked out of the project either because they couldn't handle the stress or just weren't good enough.

Riley and Buffy entered the elevator and felt their shoulders relax as the stress and tension of work rolled of them. "So, are you ready for the big meeting?" Riley asked Buffy. "Find anything demony at work?"

"Acually, I didn't. Well, there was one killing that may have been a vampire but nothing stuck out. Right now, Charlie and I are actually working this cult case that might be pretty important." Buffy informed him, "And how was your day sweetie?" She asked in a joking manner.

"You know, same old same old. Worked out, got beaten up by my girlfriend, made fun of by a rookie, the usual." Riley replied with a grin.

"The usual." Buffy repeated with a serene grin on her face.

* * *

**A/N:** I don't like doing author's notes but I just wanted to let everyone know that it _will_ be picking up starting next chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Three days later, the Scooby gang had all but staked Spike for all he was worth. Their meeting had consisted of Spike giving them a bunch of cryptic clues, all of which seemed to lead to more cryptic clues. All in all, it was really annoying them.

"So Spike, there's an evil demon, whose going to be summoned, and can only be summoned now for some reason. But you have no idea who would summon him?" Buffy summarized, looking incredibly annoyed.

"Well," Giles spoke up, lifting his gaze from a rusty book, "all I can find is the most minute reference to this time of the...millenium...being some sort of holiday. But it doesn't appear to be anything more than that." He too looked at Spike with doubt and frustration.

"I'm tellin' you lot the truth!" Spike lit up a cigarette and began quickly pacing the short length of Buffy's study.

"Don't smoke in here." Both Buffy and Riley said at the same time. Spike put the cigarette out on the carpet causing both owners of the house to cringe.

"Look, I don't know why all your fancy watcher books haven't told you anything but trust me...this is going to happen. And you all need to stop it!" Spike pointed his finger at the group in an accusatory manner.

"Maybe if you just told us where you got the information?" Willow asked Spike, trying to give off an air of friendliness the others didn't care to provide.

"I told you that's confidential!" Spike responded. In truth, he fell upon this information by accident. Down in New Orleans, he overheard some odd group of Vamps discussing the rise of some demon who would bring the world back to its good ole days where it resembled hell. He listened long enough to know these creeps were serious and jetted to the only people he knew stupid enough to try and stop this - the scoobies. The problem was, Buffy and co. tended not to trust Spike at all so he had to pretend he got the information from a good source. If they knew he just over heard it they wouldn't do anything about it. And with his status as a demon killer the last thing he wanted was demon reign on Earth. No thank you. "Look, I know you people don't trust me but why would I come to you, risk being dusted, just to tell you some false info?" Spike tried to reason with the group.

"Because you finally decided your life has no point and you might as well die, and being the kind guy you are knew that we would want to do it?" Xander finally spoke up. The others in the group all nodded in agreement and looked back to Spike.

"Psh. I got over that suicide thing years ago. Sure I might not be the big bad I was back in the day but I get by." Spike dismissed them with a smirk. Even with the chip in his head, he still commanded some respect amongst vampires (well, at least the ones ignorant of his condition). And though he would never admit it, he found hanging out with the Scoobies to be fun too. Irritating, but fun.

Giles sighed, "Well, just in case he's not pulling our chain, we should probably continue to look into this." The others grumbled in agreement and Giles, Willow, and Xander got up to leave.

"I'm going to go see Tara, maybe she can shine some light on this." Willow informed the group, who nodded in agreement. Xander simply waved goodbye and headed out alongside Giles, leaving only Riley, Buffy and Spike.

"Well, as always, it's been a lovely time." Spike smirked at the two. Buffy simply rolled her eyes.

"Of course it has." Riley said with a blatantly fake smile plastered on his face. Spike left, leaving the soon to be married couple alone. Riley walked over to Buffy and grew concerned as he saw her confused face. "What is it?" He asked, somewhat alarmed.

"It's just...what if Spike is telling the truth? Our wedding is only a week and a half away...and someone's thinking about raising some demon who could ruin it! I mean, couldn't this have waited until after the honeymoon?" Buffy let out in a single breath. Riley couldn't help but laugh.

"Well, maybe this is the demon world's wedding gift to us, a nice apocalypse?" Riley suggested.

"I did not register for an apocalypse." Buffy responded, folding her arms over her chest. Riley smiled. Secretly, it made him happy that amidst the threat of the world ending the first thing that Buffy would think of is how it would affect them.

"We get married in a little over a week. I'm sure we can keep the world around until then." Riley took Buffy into his arms and just held her until she finally relaxed.

"You're right. I guess." She responded, letting herself loosen up a little. The two stood their, absorbed in each other's company when Riley's pager went off. Buffy sighed, "What is it this time?"

Riley chuckled, "Not sure, I just need to make a call." Buffy looked somewhat curious as Riley headed to the phone. "This is agent Finn...What? Bring it to Sunnydale."

"What was all that about?" Buffy asked.

Riley's eyebrows were furrowed in confusion. "I'm not entirely sure. I need to get going, I'll call you as soon as I can." He told her apologetically. Buffy just watched as her soon to be husband hurriedly left their home. She smiled slightly to herself - about as normal as can be for the life of a slayer.

-----------

Three days on the run and Angel felt winded. He found himself driving north, south, back north, somewhere east, back west - well, honestly wasn't sure where he drove. For some reason, these guys scared him. Maybe it was the fact that he couldn't kill them or that human motives were never as black and white as demonic ones but he was unsure of what to do.

He found himself sitting on the hood of his car watching the last of the sunset over the Chicago skyline. He relaxed for a moment, enjoying the silence outside of the city with only the sound of the occasional car speeding past intruding his thoughts. All he wanted really was some peace. But then again, such a thing wasn't possible for him. He was doomed to fight until he lost. It was the only way he could live.

"You guys finally caught up to me." He said aloud as he heard about 20 men approach him. Much to their surprise, he put his hands up in surrender. "I don't wanna run, and I don't wanna die," he told them. The leader, a large man whose features were hidden by an elaborate mask simply held his crossbow facing the hostile. Never in all of their years had they had a vampire actually surrender. Sure, they've run, they've fought, occasionally offered information for their life but to give themselves as a prisoner?

And he had read the report from the Cleveland team that first found this thing. Apparently, he didn't even kill anyone - just knocked em out cold and ran away. Unsure of what to do, he ordered his second in command to taze him and bagged the vamp. All of his men looked equally confused - the first lesson they learned was "kill don't capture" yet here they were taking one in. But they didn't question it; not yet anyways.

When they finally got to the Chicago Initiative headquarters Angel was still out cold. The Chicago base leader, Colonel Stafford, was also unclear what to do and figured it would be best if they locked him up for the time being. They could always kill him later, he figured. With a heavy sigh, he headed to his office to make an awkward phone call. "This is Colonel Stafford from Chicago. I need to speak with Agent Finn right away." When it came to a grey area, instructions were always to contact Finn - he was considered the moral compass of the whole operation. The person on the other end told Stafford that Finn would be immediately paged and hung up the phone.

Moments later, Stafford's phone rang with Finn on the other line. "We tracked the hostile from Cleveland to right outside Chicago where he surrendered. We have him locked up....Very well." He went back to the cage they had the Vampire locked up in. It was funny, he thought, asleep, the creature almost looked innocent. _What on earth is going on?_ He wondered and then walked over to where his men awaited instructions.

"We've been instructed to bring him to Sunnydale." The men looked at him, some wide eyed but for the most part did not reveal any hint of emotion. "I want this do go off without a hitch. Alpha, Delta, and Gamma teams will escort the prisoner. The air force will provide the ride and quickly, we only have so long 'til daybreak." The group took off and the colonel quickly went to make the necessary phone calls. _Well_, he thought to himself, _at least the vamp will be out of my hands._


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Riley paced his office, holding pressing his thumb and index finger against his sinuses, attempting to comprehend the situation at hand. After the complete and utter failure of the Initiative version 1.0, it was decided that no one would ever attempt to capture a demon. Sure, they would capture werewolves and others who were at least part human but never a demon.

He understood why the Chicago team had done it. The situation was completely unprecedented, the idea that a vampire would actually surrender to the them was never comprehended as even a remote possibility.

It was now about 5 in the morning and he knew the Chicago team would soon be here with the aforementioned cargo. Not knowing what to do, he figured it was time to call Buffy.

"Hey sweetheart. I'm sorry to wake you." Riley told her, trying to sound as unaggrevated as possible. "We have sort of a situation. I'm not entirely sure how to handle it and could definatly use your help." Buffy mumbled something along the lines of "I'll be right there" and hung up the phone.

"Agent Finn" the sound alerted him from him thoughts about 20 minutes later and he quickly responded to the intercom. "The hostile has arrived." Finn acknowledged the voice and headed down to containment. At least the old initiative left some good containment cells, he thought humorously.

By the time Riley arrived at the cell, Angel had finally started to wake up. He was confused, to say the least. "Where am I?" he managed to ask as his vision slowly cleared.

"You're in a cell." Riley told him bluntly. The vampire gave him a sarcastic thanks and, realizing questions would get him no where, attempted to make himself comfortable in the cell. "Who are you?" Riley asked, confused by this vampire's non 'i'm going to destroy you' attitude.

"I'm -" He began to tell him before he saw her. His eyes bulged and he became incredibly disoriented. Riley noticed the vampires change of demeanor and looked in the directions his eyes pointed. When he turned around, he saw Buffy with a similarly shocked look on her face. "Buffy?" The vampire asked, hesitant and unsure if his eyes were playing tricks.

"Angel." She said without question, feeling the burning glare of her fiancee, she walked toward the cage. After a moment, she regained her composure.

"You look good." Angel told her, ignoring the confused looks Riley and the other soldiers were giving them.

"You look the same," Buffy responded to which Angel gave a small chuckle.

"Buffy?" Riley looked to his fiancee, his face marked by utter confusion. Now, the situation came crashing back down for the slayer who had to find a way to rectify the situation.

"Riley. It's okay, this is Angel, he's a...good vampire." She turned and tried to explain to him, "He has a soul." Then she turned back to face Angel, "You do still have a soul, right?"

"Yes." He told her, a little annoyed that she would even ask that question.

Standing behind and watching this little reunion Riley appeared to have maintained complete composure. Inside his head however was a completely different story. When he first heard Buffy call the vampire Angel he thought her ex boyfriend had been turned. This illusion ended when she realized how comfortable their report was - and how she treated him like a human. With the immediate and daunting realization that his fiancee's ex, whom he believed to be some anonymous high school boy was in fact a vampire all he wanted to was slam his fist through a wall. But he maintained his composure, trying as hard as humanly possible to rationalize everything going on.

When Buffy turned around and looked at Riley, she saw past the good soldier facade and saw the hurt and confusion he was feeling. The moment she gazed into his eyes, she felt a part of herself tremble in shame that she could cause him to hurt so much. All she wanted to do was run to him and hold him and explain the part of her past that she was never quiet able to put into words. But now was definitely not the time for that.

Maintaining professional decorum, Buffy beckoned for Riley to follow her to the side of the hall so they could talk more privately. "Angel over there was made a Vampire sometime in the mid 18th century. He went by Angelus - you can look it up. He was known as the scourge of Europe until about the turn of the 20th century when he was cursed by some gypsies with a soul. So now, he has a conscience and all that and doesn't want to harm humans." She finished the short and simplified biography of Angel, "Look, I know this situation is really confusing but we should release him - he's not a threat." Riley took a moment to regain his composure. As much as he wanted to yell or scream, he couldn't do that here or now.

"I want to take your word for this, I really do, but we need proof that he's as good as you say. I mean, you haven't seen the guy in over 8 years - anything could have happened." Riley reasoned with her. Buffy nodded her head and watched as he squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again. She squeezed his hand and led him back towards the cage.

"Angel, what have you been doing these last 8 years?" She asked bluntly. After the shock of initially seeing him she now maintained a mask of cool professionalism.

"Traveling a lot, ya know, killing things, the usual." He responded. Mirroring Buffy's unemotional state. After seeing some looks of horror upon the soldiers, he corrected himself, "Killing demons not humans."

"Any proof?" Buffy asked.

"Well, there are a whole ton of people in DC who are not dead because I dusted a nest of damps." Angel boasted, grabbing Riley's attention.

"That was you?" Riley asked, his eyes wide with curiosity.

"Yeah." Angel responded, a little curious now. Riley started chuckling causing basically everyone in the room to stare at him in confusion.

"Did you kill anything in New York City recently?" Riley asked between laughs.

"Two chaos demons a few months ago. And of course a vamp here and there." Angel responded, still confused.

"So you're the vigilante." Riley just stated, still smiling in an ironic way. Buffy and Angel just stared at him.

"I'm the what?" Angel asked now extremely confused.

"We've expanded over the past year in major cities and anywhere that seems to attract a lot of demons. Lets just say, we've noticed someone else doing our work," Riley explained and then shook his head, "I never thought it would be a vampire though." After that realization, the group became silent.

To break the silence, Buffy's phone began beeping loudly at her. "I'm sorry Riley, I have to go to work, I'll see you at home later?" She asked him, her eyes pleading for him to understand.

Without looking at her, he responded, "Yeah, I'll see you later." She walked out of the initiative willing herself to maintain decorum. Never in a million years did she imagine seeing Angel again. She paced the elevator, begging it to move faster as she felt the inevitable tears begin to drip from her face. That 10 minutes threatened to turn her life upside down. Those first love feelings that came rushing back, the reminder of the times she lied to Riley, it all stood there in her head, mocking her. She wiped off the tears, closed her eyes and remembered herself in that wedding dress and the look of utter joy and pride in Riley's eyes. Buffy knew that Riley was her future and she would do whatever was necessary to rectify the situation.

Meanwhile, Riley was doing everything he could in his power not to go absolutely crazy. His head was now going in a circle. W_ell, he's a vampire. I mean, he seems good. Buffy probably just didn't want to worry me. Maybe she was embarrassed. She blatantly lied though! And the way they looked at each other? What more hasn't she told me? I mean, he's a vampire!_ Every time he tried to rationalize it, it was just too hard. And everytime he came close, he remembered the way he looked at her and how she looked at him. Like seeing the sun for the first time! He knew that look so well, it was what he saw in the mirror every morning he realized it was Buffy lying next to him. He turned away from the vampire and instructed the remaining soldiers to keep an eye on him for the time being and hurried to his office.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"Giles! I think I found something!" Willow belted from Giles' kitchen room table. Giles, after admonishing Willow for shouting when he was only 10 feet away, hurriedly came to her side.

"Yes, yes, this may be important," he proceeded to take the book from her and readjusted his glasses. "This appears to be another mention of this holiday. They specify it as Naka's Day." Giles furrowed his brow in confusion and put down the old book.

"So," Willow began, her eyes large in anticipation, "what does that mean?"

Giles shook his head, "I'm not entirely sure. However, it gives us something more concrete to go on." Giles was somewhat relieved by this latest discovery. For days, Willow, himself, and occasionally Xander had been researching to no avail. Sure, they found plenty of references to demons that could or at least wanted to open the hellmouth but a long list would get them no where. "Let's see...all it says here is that the holiday occurs only once every other millennium. And it's only practised by a group known as Nanakas." Giles raised his head from his book to see a look of confusion in Willow's face.

"Alright, so this big bad demon can only be raised once every 2000 years on his own holiday?" Giles nodded and let her continue, "And it's only going to be attempted by believers or followers I guess of this demon?" At this point, Giles simply shrugged, not entirely sure of the answer himself. "Well, I guess we still have more work to do." Willow finished and the two went back to research, trying to find anything they could on this apocalypse bringing demon. The two continued to read through the many books in Giles' library until later that afternoon when Buffy came bursting through the front door.

Having known the slayer now for about 10 years, the two intellectuals merely shared a glance and knew something was wrong. Buffy, who while not ordinarily the most poised person was still disheveled to the extent that her two close friends were concerned. She burst in and stared at them almost as though she didn't know where she was. And then, as if the Willow and Giles weren't confused enough as it was, she started pacing, twiddling her thumbs.

"Buffy, are you alright?" Her watcher asked, keeping a fair distance.

"No, I'm not alright! You are the worst friends ever!" She stated without any real emotion. Willow and Giles turned to one another and shrugged their shoulders in shared confusion. It seemed in the span of less than 24 hours their mature friend had somehow digressed to a 12 year old. Finally, she stopped pacing and took a seat on the couch, her body still slightly shaken.

"What's wrong Buffy? Did something happen at work?" Willow asked, kneeling down in front of her best friend.

"Work was fine, except that I could barely think. God Willow I'm such an idiot." Buffy responded, taking a pillow nearby and shoving it in her face.

"Calm down and talk to us...what happened?" Willow was incredibly confused.

"Do you remember when I was a sophomore in college and I decided that Riley didn't ever need to know the whole truth about Angel?" Willow shyly nodded in response, having a bad feeling in her gut about where this was going. "Well, guess who got caught by the initiative?" Both Willow and Giles were speechless. "Ya, that's what I thought." Said Buffy softly, finally calming down.

"Have you talked to Riley about it?" Giles asked.

"Not yet. He called me this morning asking if I could come down to the Initiative because they had some 'morally gray' issue. So I go down there, not sure what to expect when I'm taken to one of the old containment areas and bam! There he is and I'm caught like a deer in the headlights." Buffy stopped. "And for a moment, I was just, flooded with all those emotions and then I looked at Riley and he looked so - hurt and confused and upset. And I was flooded with other emotions and I mean. He was never supposed to come back! He had his own 'journey' and it didn't include me so what the hell is he doing here now?" Buffy declared angrily.

"Calm down Buffy, you need to relax. Go home, wait for Riley to get there, and talk to him. I'm sure he'll understand. But honey, your acting like a child. Please pull yourself together." Willow told her best friend in her best 'understand but stern' tone.

"Your right Willow," Buffy began, "I know what I need to do it's just - I guess I'm scared. I never imagined I'd have to have this talk and I guess life had become so easy since Riley I found myself reverting back to a less mature me." The two friends laughed together. Buffy looked up at Willow and Giles and gave them both a hug, thanked them for listening to her, and left the house to go home.

"This is terrible." Willow said as soon as Buffy was out of ear shot.

"You think it's going to be that bad?" Giles asked, removing his eye glasses to rub his eyes.

"You remember what it was like when Buffy and Angel were together, I mean, they practically drifted towards each other, chemistry like that doesn't just happen." Willow stated, shaking her head as if to will the facts away.

"But Buffy is older now, and she has Riley of course. And Angel has stayed away for 8 years don't you imagine he's moved on by now?" Giles asked the red headed witch.

"I guess I'm just worried that they never really got their closure you know? They left one another, still in love. And I guess - I don't know. I'm just worried. Buffy's so close to her happily ever after and she deserves it. And so does Riley!" At the point Giles placed a hand out to stop her rambling.

"I know. The most we can hope for is that the entire situation is handled and Angel leaves town as soon as possible." Giles sat down, rubbing his sinuses. He knew having Angel in town would likely not be good for his slayer.

* * *

"You wanted to see me?" Graham entered Riley's office a little more shyly than he would normally have done. While he had not been at headquarters that morning, he had heard from the grapevine that something had gotten Riley in a less than happy mood.

"Yes. By now I assume you've heard we have a guest with us." Riley stopped and waited for Graham to acknowledge with a nod, "I'd like you to interview him. Take him out of his cell with an armed guard of course, and take him to a nice couched area and find out everything you can on him." Riley proceeded to toss him a set of papers, "Here's everything that's been put together on his past. A lot of gory stuff but I'm more interested in the past 100 years or so since he's gotten his soul back."

"Sounds good boss." Graham, responded with a short salute. If Graham was honest with himself, he was stoked about this assignment. After hearing about the ruckus this guy was causing, it was cool to be the guy who could hopefully figure out what the heck is going on. Sure, in the back of his mind he was wondering why Buffy who was an actual detective and all wasn't asking the questions but he was excited nonetheless.

As he approached the cell, for a moment Graham recollected the first Initiative and all that had gone wrong. He remembered these areas full with demons just waiting to be released. Shaking the thoughts out of his head, he swiped his key card to open the cell. "You wanna go on a walk?" He asked the Vampire.

The Vampire considered it for a moment and then stood up, "Doesn't sound like a bad idea." The two walked side by side to another part of the building. It appeared to be some sort of rec area that had been cleared out for the sake of this interview.

"You want anything to drink? Coffee maybe?" Graham asked politely.

"No thanks. That stuff gives me the jitters. Do you have any sprite?" He asked in response. Graham smiled, reached into the fridge and threw Angel a Sprite. "Thanks." He responded as he took the drink. So far, this whole experience was going far more differently than Angel had expected. To be fair, he expected to be dead by now but that was a whole different story. The biggest surprise so far was seeing Buffy. He couldn't believe that after all these years he'd see her again, and it was so painful. He found himself unwillingly recollecting happier times when he, for a short period, imagined a brighter future. Even now, he had to remind himself that she was a human and he was a demon and chemicals didn't equal a future.

"So, you're a vampire who claims to have a soul." Graham commented after taking a sip of his cup of coffee.

"Yeah, but that's a bit of a mouthful so you can just call me Angel." The Vampire responded in a friendly albeit slightly mocking tone.

In spite of himself, Graham found himself liking this guy. Sure, he was a bloodsucker and possibly evil but he had a sense of humor and he was polite. "The records about you suddenly go silent at around the turn of the 19th century. You wanna talk about that?" He asked.

"Pretty simple," Angel began, "in 1898, a gypsy clan cursed me with a soul. For about the next 100 years I moped around feeling sorry for myself. No one really noticed me, all I did was hang around street alleys eating rats and other vermin." Graham nodded in comprehension. It made sense he figured, a man being forced to acknowledge committing over a hundred years of unfathomable evil would likely have a pathetic existence.

"But now you don't look like street trash. You go around, in a somewhat civilized manner apparently hunting evil. What changed?" Graham asked.

"Some demon, not an evil one I don't think, showed me something. Well, someone actually and it made me realize I could continue to be pathetic or actually help." Angel finished, appearing somewhat uncomfortable. At this point, Graham was beginning to put the pieces together. Well, he should have figured it out with the name but it took a moment to recall Riley's bad mood and overhearing some guys talk about 'Buffy knowing the vamp' to really put it together.

"Wait a minute, your Buffy's ex aren't you?" Graham asked incredulously.

"I guess you could call me that." Answered Angel uncomfortably. Graham simply laughed, shaking his head.

"You know, I really shouldn't be that surprised she dated a Vampire, she always was an odd one." Graham commented. Angel smiled, amused by the soldier's reaction. Compared to the one in charge, he seemed to be more lighthearted. He figured though this one wasn't Buffy's boyfriend so he had less to be anxious about. "So you decided to fight evil, I'm assuming you came to Sunnydale and had a relationship with Buffy, then what?" Graham attempted to sound as calm and relaxed as possible. In reality, he really wanted to know the answer to these questions.

"We were happy, for a while at least. Things got...complicated and I lost my soul. Willow was able to reapply the curse and I went away for a while. I came back and Buffy helped me. We got back together but eventually I realized she was meant for more than me. With us, there were always obstacles, things standing in our way." Angel finished. While the commentary sounded straightforward Graham could hear the reluctance in his voice and knew there was more to this saga then that. "So," Angel started, leaning back in his chair, "what are you guys going to do with me?"

Graham chuckled, "Now that's really the $50,000 question, isn't it?"


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Buffy arrived home at around sunset and noticed the storm clouds up ahead. She thought the clouds were ominous - rarely did it rain in Sunnydale and of course it would storm when her life was on a balance beam. All she wanted right now was for Riley to come home, and for the two of them to sit down and have a rational discussion.

Unsure of what to do, Buffy paced her living room, scripting the apologetic speech she planned to give Riley. After about 10 minutes of this, she feared the carpet was getting dented and migrated into the kitchen. Once there, she thought about cooking but wasn't sure if it was appropriate. She was afraid of everything. No matter how many times she tried to assure herself that Riley was the love of her life and wouldn't make a big deal and it would all be okay, she remembered that look of hurt in his eyes.

The sun had nearly completely set as Buffy heard the door open. Her eyes opened wide and she wiped the tears that stained her cheeks before running to the door to greet him. His face was solemn, lacking the joy and brightness she had grown accustomed to. "We need to talk." Was all he told her and took a seat in their living room.

"I'm sorry Riley," she blurted out, "I shouldn't have lied to you but it was all so complicated and messy and it just made sense." So far, this wasn't going anything like she had scripted. She imagined herself regally informing of him of all the logical reasons for not telling him the truth but instead she found herself mumbling whatever she could without falling apart.

"Look, I get it. Well, honestly I don't. But I can understand to some extent why you didn't tell me he was a Vampire. But Buffy - this is more than that. The way you two looked at each other, the way you froze when you saw him, that," he paused for a moment shutting his eyes and opening them again, "is not the look you give your high school sweetheart. When you see your high school sweetheart, you give them a hug and talk about how your lives have changed. You didn't just lie to me by not telling me he is a vampire, you lied to me about everything. My god, I look back on the first year of our relationship and all your brooding and all your doubts, it's like I'm finally seeing the truth."

"Riley-" He stopped her with a stern look.

"I know I know. It's different now, I know that much. I know the fire we have and I believe with all my heart that you love me but this is so much for me to take." At this point, Riley was beginning to break down. After a day of solitude, contemplating what he would say when he got home to his fiancee, it was relieving to get the words out "And this, only a week and a half before our wedding, is this a sign? Why now? Why did you lie to me for eight years!"

"Riley, I'm sorry. I was just so hurt. And at first I couldn't tell you the truth and eventually, I figured, Angel wasn't coming back in my life it would only cause problems and hurt you." Buffy tried to respond.

"But Buffy, you don't shield the people you love from pain. You tell them the truth, you do everything you can to make them understand everything your feeling. You thought you were doing me a favor? Do you know how many times I thought I was losing you that first year we were together? I saw you looking to the sunset, and I thought you were drifting away from me! God, it's all so clear now, and you couldn't tell me? I mean, at the very least you could have told me you were in love once before." Riley's thoughts had begun to get tangled up. He saw Buffy about to say something but he knew he couldn't handle anything more tonight.

He stormed out of his house, oblivious to the now raging storm with only one thought on his mind - he wanted to kill something. Demon, vampire, he didn't care so long as he was away from all this. Grateful it was night, he made his way to a cemetery, bloodthirsty and full of rage.

Once she recovered, Buffy sprinted after him. She cursed the rain, which greatly reduced her chances of tracking him. But it didn't slow her down. She continued to run through Sunnydale for over an hour until she found him in a graveyard, on his knees, holding onto a stake for dear life.

"Riley," she yelled once was was about 5 ft away. She could feel the pain and anger emanating off of him, "please Riley. I love you, please talk to me." Her yells were slowly becoming cries.

"I love you too," he told her, his voice sad and his face hopeless, "but right now I don't know what to do."

"That's what I'm here for," Buffy said, inching herself closer to the kneeling figure, finding herself close enough to touch him but chose to stand a few inches away.

"You don't get it. I gave myself to you Buffy. Everything." He yelled at her, "And you kept something so important from me. God Buffy, you were going to marry me with this lie hanging in the air, I don't know what to think."

"I'm an idiot. I'm horrible. But I'm still the same girl I was yesterday and I'm still madly in love with you." Buffy responded, placing her hands on his shoulders and forcing him to look into her eyes. After a moment, she leaned into him and kissed him as hard as she could. The two remained locked all while the rain came down around them. After a few moments, Riley pushed Buffy back.

"I'm sorry Buffy. I need time and space to think about this. I know it's not everything and I know that I love you but this is big." He said his face full of pain at the prospect of being a part from her. He turned around and walked away, hearing her yell his name once more. Finally, her energy drained, she literally collapsed on the ground of the cemetery.

* * *

Buffy was awakened by the light of day breaking through her eyelids. She opened them to see Spike leaning over her. "You okay Slayer?" He asked, the sun shining blatently down on him.

Confused, Buffy let the impotent Vampire help her up and continued to stare at her surroundings. No longer was she in the cemetery but a field full of daisies and tulips. She took a moment to absorb her surroundings. She saw to her right a blonde haired child in a white dress, dancing about without a care in the world. She smiled at the child, feeling a sense of familiarity in the girl.

On her left was a boy, unremarkable except for the way he looked at the girl. She didn't even notice him yet from where Buffy stood the boy saw only the girl. He wore khaki pants and a white collared shirt, and held a handful of daisies he picked from the field. Buffy watched as he approached the girl who took the daisies and continued running away. The boy chased her and the game went on.

"I'm dreaming, aren't I?" Buffy asked the Vampire. For the first time since seeing Angel, she felt somewhat peaceful and warm.

"Of course you are." Spike responded with a slight smirk, and proceeded to light up a cigarette.

"What's going on? Why am I here?" Buffy was used to prophetic dreams. But this seemed strange, even for her.

"You're here, because you, love, need to figure out what is going on here." Spike responded, pointing to Buffy's heart. Buffy sighed, figuring as much.

"So, where do we start?" Buffy asked, giving into the dream.

"Well, first of all, I ask the questions, I am your guide of sorts apparently." Buffy smirked at this, wondering why it wasn't Willow or Giles her mind conjured up for this experience. Suddenly, before she could do anything about it, the scene flashed to Buffy and Angel meeting for the first time.

Buffy chuckled, "I remember this. I hated him, all cryptic and unhelpful." Spike gave her a glare, "Okay, maybe I didn't hate him but I was irritated." The scene shifted to when the two first kissed and she found out he was a Vampire. Buffy closed her eyes, remembering the feeling of betrayal in that moment. Now looking on the scene, she saw the pain Angel suffered, knowing how she would react.

"Alright, this is getting boring," Spike muttered. Buffy was confused as to why a manifestation of her mind would be bored by her dream. Suddenly, she saw her and Angel in bed together. What she did not expect to see was Angel waking up and yelling her name as his soul was ripped out.

Buffy was about to break out into tears at this point. "Why are you showing me this?" She asked Spike.

"You've blocked out nearly everything from those three years with Angel, I'm showing you what you're afraid to remember." Spike responded. The scene once again shifted to Angel, on his knees in front of Acathla as he got his soul back. Buffy watched in horror as she killed him. Her eyes slammed closed when she knew the blow would take place. The look of confusion, of love in his eyes - it was all too much.

"Maybe I've blocked out these memories for a reason! They're painful, I've already had to live through them once why should I have to live through them again?" She asked, now pleading with the Vampire.

"Because you've forgotten them. Sure, you remember how the events took place. Who was there, who did what, where they did it. But you forgot the most important part. How did you feel, and why you felt it." Spike responded, in a way so sincere Buffy found it odd coming out of his mouth. Again, the scene shifted, only this time it showed Buffy and Angel in the sewer, when he ended their relationship.

"I was so sad that day. I think I understood, but I was so afraid. He was everything to me." Buffy said, watching as her younger self looked at her lover bewildered and afraid. Before Buffy had a chance to say anything else, she watched as the scene changed to him drinking her blood. Buffy reflexively grabbed the spot on her neck where only some minor scar tissue remained. "I made him do it. And he hated me for it." She commented.

"But he loved you as well. See the way he holds you, the way he refuses to leave your side at the hospital? You were willing to sacrifice everything for him and that perhaps scared him most of all." Spike pointed out, showing the scenes in question as he mentioned them. "He left because he had his own journey to go on. See, you and all the scoobies talk about how old he is but really, he's quite young. He was in his 20s when he was turned and an immature dope at that. When he got his soul back, he spent the next 100 years being a pathetic waste of space until he saw you. So while he left to give you the space you needed to become the person you are today, he also left because he had his own journey, independent of you."

Buffy nodded. She knew all of this on some subconscious level but it was only now making sense to her. "Now comes the part you'll want to remember." Spike began. Suddenly, the scene warped to the UC Sunnydale bookstore where Buffy accidently knocked a book over on Riley's head. Buffy chuckled a little bit, remembering how she could barely get a word out when they first met.

"I think I knew it right then. There was something about the way he looked at me - like he saw me." Buffy smiled, watching the scene play out. Suddenly it shifted to the awkward times, when he tried asking her out or talking to her at a party. She shook her head, having trouble believing that it was ever unnatural for them. Before she knew it, Buffy was watching herself and Riley discover the other's secrets as the pointed their weapons at one another. "Man, that was a crazy day. No one can speak, Riley and I had just had our first kiss and bam! We discover the other's hiding a big secret." She shook her head at the memories.

"You fought it at first remember? You thought it could never work and he convinced you that it was worth it to at least give it a try." The scene shifted to Buffy and Riley reconciling. "It brought you two closer, didn't it? Sharing who you were, the whole truth, you finally actually got to connect." Buffy nodded in agreement and watched as flashes of that first year flew past. The Initiative 1.0, Adam, everything.

"We got through it. In spite of everything, we got through it all together." The next scenes showed Buffy and Riley in a room with three 5 star generals, explaining what went wrong and how to improve it. Buffy laughed, "Riley was wigging out. And there I was, cool as can be, telling these generals what idiots they were." She watched the next year of their life go by, as they grew closer while they rebuilt the Initative.

"Now here's one of my favorites." Spike paused on her 20th birthday. Her friends, once again, had thrown her a surprise party only this time Riley had a perimeter of soldiers set up. "Hey look! There's me!" Spike pointed to himself tied up on a chair. Buffy smiled - after all of her messed up birthdays Riley was determined to give her one demon free. Buffy started to tear up - it was one of the best nights of her life.

"That was the night I knew without a shadow of a doubt I was in love with him." She shakily told Spike, who simply nodded with a 'duh' look etched on his face.

"Well, your lives got pretty redundent after that." Spike commented, showing scenes from the next few years, only pausing to show moments where she and Riley conquered a particularly nasty demon. Buffy watched and a small smile showed upon her face - through thick and thin they were together, facing whatever came their way. Then the scene swirled and Buffy saw a scene from two years ago.

Riley, Buffy, Willow, Giles, and Xander were all at Giles'. It was a seemingly ordinary night. The group was eating pizza while looking through books trying to find out the deal with some demon who appeared out of no where. Then suddenly, out of the blue, Riley looked up and asked Buffy 'Will you marry me?'. Buffy looked up - her eyes like a deer caught in head lights before breaking out into a toothy smile. 'Yes.' She told him, with complete and utter certainty.

"You know, it turns out he had been holding onto that ring for a little over a month waiting for the right moment. I guess sitting there, amongst our closest friends, doing the most mundane of tasks, was the right moment. It was so perfect, not overly dramatic just - wonderful." Buffy recalled the event with perfect clarity without even having to watch the scene unfold.

"Yes, you're time with Riley was notable for that perfection. Everything falling into place - it was as though the two of you were meant for each other." Spike pointed out, in a rather bored fashion. The scene once again shifted until they were back in the field with the little girl and boy.

"So what was the point of all this, Spike? Why are we here?" Buffy asked, still unsure of what valuable lesson she was supposed to gain.

"Don't you see it, love? See that little girl, running from him." Spike pointed at the children at play.

"But who is he?" She asked, unsure if she wanted to know the answer.

"He is both of them and he is neither of them." He responded, looking at her meaningfully. She gave him a confused glare to which he responded. "At one point, you've kept both of these men at an arms reach. When you first began seeing Riley, you were afraid of what he would see in you. You didn't want him to fall in love with you. Even when you started to open yourself up, you kept a crucial part of yourself from him and for that he hates you." Buffy closed her eyes, acknowledging what he said.

"And for the last 6 and a half years, ever since that moment on your 20th birthday that you gave your heart to Riley, you closed yourself off to Angel to such an extent that you forgot he was out there. You forgot that your love for him is such an important part of you. And now that Angel is back in your life, albeit in a strange manner, you subconsciously stay away from him, afraid in a sense that he will take a part of you away." Spike finished.

"So your saying in order to move forward with Riley I have to open myself up to the past?" Buffy said, confused even as the words came out.

"Not at all. I'm saying in order for you to move on, in order for you to once again feel complete you must find a way to compromise your past and your present. You must be willing to open yourself up to everything you feel, whether it be convenient or not. And believe me, you must be honest with both yourself and the two men who have captured your heart." Spike told her, placing her hand on Buffy's shoulder and giving her a slight smile.

Buffy watched the little girl as she threw each of the daisies into the air, so careless and free. She walked over and picked up each of the daisies as the girl dropped them and felt their immense weight. Eventually, she realized what it was she had to do.

* * *

Author's Note: I am soooo soooo sorry about the massive hiatus. It wasn't intentional - I went on vacation and I thought I'd be able to update but I wasn't. But I should be back to an update every other day now and I made this one longer than usual as penance.


	9. Chapter 9

"Slayer!" Spike yelled at the girl. He looked around at the moment, contemplating if in the girl's state he should find some Vampire to finish her off. Then again, she was a part of his routine and therefore it remained somewhat critical for her to be alive. "SLAYER!" He yelled, causing her to blink her eyes open.

She grabbed his hand, taking in her surrounding. She was still in the cemetery and while the storm had subsided there was still a light drizzle in the air. After staring at Spike for a moment, Buffy ran up and hugged him.

"What the bloody hell?" Spike asked, unable to use reasonable force to get her off him.

"Thanks." She told him, wiping the tears from her eyes.

As Buffy headed home, the storm clouds here slowly fading and she was soon able to see the faint light of a few stars. She contemplated her dream, the memory fresh in her mind as though it had truly happened. When she finally arrived at her home she knew that Riley wouldn't be there, and that was okay, she figured.

"Buffy! Are you alright!" Willow ran up to her friend as Buffy approached the house. From about eight feet away, Buffy could also see Giles standing at the front door, worry etched into his face.

"I dunno. But I'm gonna be." Buffy gave the faintest smile possible and continued walking with her best friend into the house.

"After seeing you this afternoon we were worried so we wanted to stop by to make sure everything was okay but when we got here no one was here and I was just heading out to look for you and -" Willow rambled until Buffy stopped her.

"Thanks for worrying about me." She told her friends and the three made themselves comfortable on the couch. Buffy was about to tell them everything that had happened when the door blew open.

"I just heard, Buffy! Are you okay?" Xander started, a fierce intensity marking his face. Willow, Buffy, and Giles who were now sitting on the couch drinking tea paused, only to break down into laughter. "What?" He asked, confused. Willow's message suggested Buffy was really upset and it was really bad.

"I'm sorry it's just. That was a very masculine storm in, Xander." Willow explained to the best of her ability. Xander took a seat next to Buffy in the living room and Buffy began telling the story.

"So Riley feels like you intentionally didn't tell him about Angel because you were so in love with him?" Willow asked, a little confused about the entire situation.

"I guess. I think it was more that I didn't even tell Riley what Angel meant to me. That I even had those emotions. Also, remember how insecure Riley was when we first started dating? I think Riley's kind of upset that I never opened up to him about that time. That I never sat him down and explained things." Buffy told her friends rather calmly considering the subject matter.

"What are you going to do?" Xander asked. Through the whole ordeal, Buffy was pretty sure she heard Xander muttering distasteful things about Angel.

"Well, I'm going to give him a day to cool down. Then I'm going to talk to him - tell him absolutely everything." The group nodded, "I'm also going to talk to Angel. I've got to face all of this head on." The group now looked at her, unsure if it was the right thing to do, "Maybe he's here for a reason. I need to close that chapter of my life for good before I can finally move on and marry Riley."

"We support you." Willow said with a small smile. Buffy gave her friend a thankful look and stood up.

She took a moment to become aware of her state. She was soaking head to do, her back and side covered in mud. "Wow, I'm a mess. Thanks you guys, for coming over. I really need to clean up and go to sleep." Giles, Xander, and Willow all hugged her and headed home for the night.

* * *

"You're nothing but her constellation prize." Angel taunted at him with a heavy smirk.

"What would you know, you havn't seen her in 8 years?" Riley shouted back at the Vampire. Even as he did though, he knew it was fruitless. Between them, Buffy stood, apparently torn at her decision.

"I'm sorry Riley, it was fun, but I'm in love with Angel." She told him very clinically. Angel gave him a final smirk before the Vampire and Slayer raced into one another's arms to kiss passionately.

"Riley. RILEY!" Riley was livid, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw Graham in his pajamas. "Riley!"

Riley woke with a start, blinking his eyes a few times to take in his surroundings. Instead of being in his own bed with Buffy, he was on Graham's couch. _Were the events in his dream true? No_, he reminded himself. Suddenly, the events of the night before flashed before his mind.

He distinctly remembered yelling at Buffy - a part of him winced at how upset she was. He remembered her yelling after him as he walked away. And he remembered how hard it was for him not to run back to her and hold her in his arms. _God, I wish I didn't love her so much,_ he thought to himself.

"Seriously Riley, I know you've got a lot going on but we do have to go to work." Graham reminded him, throwing him some clean clothes. Riley caught them and just stared at his friend before reality set in. Sure, his life may be up in the air, his future taken from him, but it was still a weekday.

"Do you think I would get in trouble if I killed the Vampire?" Riley asked, deep in thought.

Graham laughed, "Dude, he's not that bad. I get it, you don't like his past with Buffy and I can't blame you for that but he didn't wanna come back here." Riley gave his friend a glare. Graham just shrugged it off, aware nothing he said could really make him feel better. "I've gotta head out, I'll see you at headquarters in an hour though, alright?" Graham emphasized that Riley did in fact need to leave and go to work. Riley grumbled incoherently in reply.

About half an hour later, Graham stepped into the massive complex that was the Initiative. While he tried not to show it, he was a little giddy. After his interview with Angel the day before, the colonel in charge of the Initiative decided Angel should stay as a "guest whose not allowed to leave" - in other words, he was a prisoner who was to be treated well. Since Graham and Angel had developed some sort of report, it was up to Graham to continue talking to him and learn everything he could.

After a quick visit to his locker to change into his uniform, he grabbed the blood he picked up from the butcher shop on the way in and headed to Angel's cell. Already, Graham noticed that someone added a bed to the room. When he reached the cell, Angel was engaged in a lengthy set of push ups. Graham knocked on the glass to get his attention.

"Oh hey!" Angel told him nonchalantly. "You wanna come in?" Graham shook his head, amused. While obviously unhappy with his current 'captive' status, at least he wasn't being a pain about it. This alone put him a step higher than any other Vampire he had ever met.

Graham put his key card through and stepped in. "I like what you've done with the place." He nodded his head in approval and looked around. "You wanna get some air?" Graham asked. Angel looked at him curiously. "No, we're not going to let you out. But you can get out of this cell." Angel grunted, putting on his shirt and heading out of his cell.

Today, a few new recruits had set up a comfortable sitting area in an old interrogation room. The idea was Angel would feel comfortable there and anyone one wanted to could listen in. Graham led the Vampire into the room and handed him the bag. Angel looked at him slightly surprised. "Thanks." After an awkward moment, he asked, "So what do you want to talk to me about today?"

"Why do you fight demons?" Graham asked. While there were a plethora of questions, ranging from the circumstances in which he became a Vampire to his unique knowledge of Vampires and other Demons, perhaps the thing that Graham became most curious about was why he cared. Sure, he got the whole having a soul means having a conscience but the part where he basically turns on his own kind is where Graham got lost.

"I didn't at first," Angel explained, "as I told you before, I was pretty much a homeless rat for the first 100 years I had a soul." He paused as Graham nodded. "I guess, I met Buffy, Xander and Willow. At first, I just helped her with information but eventually I helped fight. If her two human friends were risking their lives for her, I should to, ya know?"

"So you did it to impress a girl?" Graham tried to simplify it.

"Maybe at first but it wasn't that simple. She captivated me and it was a way to do right. But once I started fighting and the good I was doing could be quantified, I began to feel some amount of redemption. Every Vampire I killed represented some amount of humans I saved. It gave me a small bit of hope that maybe I wasn't doomed to rot in hell for all eternity for the sins I committed but there was the chance that I could be more." Angel responded meaningfully.

Graham contemplated this. Though the matter-of-factly way he talked about hell freaked him out a little, Angel's explanation seemed pretty heartfelt and logical to Graham. Now the Vampire sat in a couch across from him looking a little uncomfortable. "Alright, that's enough deep stuff. So, tell me about some of the demons you've killed?"

Angel immediately became more comfortable and the two began discussing in length the various demons they came across. Behind closed doors, scientists and historians took down the information, impressed by the ease in which Angel was willing to give it. The two demon hunters kept on talking, occasionally exchanging a personal anecdote, when a recruit walked in to give Graham his lunch.

Graham was amazed they had been talking this long. True, their perceptions as all demons being evil had drastically changed over the years but he was beginning to actually think of Angel as a friend. "So," Angel's exclamation interrupted Graham's thoughts, "For the last two days we've talked about me and having a soul and demons and other great stuff. So can I find out about who you people all are and what you're all up to?" He asked rather bluntly.

Graham felt slightly uncomfortable at the inquiry. Sure, he didn't really see Angel as a threat and being a Vampire and all security clearance wasn't an issue. But he knew the higher ups might not want him saying anything so he tried to keep things as vague as he could. "Well, we do what you do I guess. We hunt demons." He answered, attempting to portray that it was all really that simple.

"So how did Buffy get involved? I mean the Slayer and the army doesn't exactly seem like a match made in heaven." Angel inquired, hoping to get something more. For a second, he thought Graham's faced showed just the smallest hint of amusement.

"Well, in our lines of work it was more or less inevitable we would run into each other and we did. So we figured it was best if we worked together." Graham responded in a very matter-of-fact tone of voice. Angel easily detected it was a lie. Not only was the soldier trying too hard to be nonchalant, but the idea that Buffy would meet a bunch of commandos and just start working with them, without reservations and problems made no sense.

The two fell into an awkward silence for a few minutes until a grunt walked in with a note for Graham. "It's been a blast, Angel. But it looks like we're going to have to pick up on this tomorrow." Angel simply nodded, and followed a few soldiers back to his 'room'. Graham took off in the opposite direction, to the colonel's office.

"So, how's it going?" The Colonel asked the moment Graham stepped into his office.

"Pretty well. He seems like a decent guy. He has already given us some pretty detailed accounts of over 15 types of demons - some of which have eluded us in the past." Graham responded.

"We're in a bit of an awkward situation here. I would personally have no problem letting him go, what with both you and Buffy vouching for him but my higher ups say we should keep him here a bit longer. I don't know what for but as long as Angel isn't causing problems I figure we can indulge them a little longer." Graham wasn't surprised by any of this. The Colonel was an older man in his late sixties. While some members of the chain of command wanted him to play a more active role in the Initiative, he usually let Riley make the important decisions.

"What should we do? He's begun to ask questions which we can't really blame him for. And soon we're going to run out of things to talk about." Graham pointed out.

"It's up to you, but I was going to suggest we take him with us on patrol." The Colonel suggested, surprising Graham. "This guy is, after all, the Vigilante and our initial plans if we were to find the Vigilante was to try and form some sort of alliance. While this might be a more awkward situation than we would have previously predicted, we can still try and make something work."

"I have no problem with it. But what if he runs?" Graham asked. Sure, with ten or more commandos Angel might not feel up to running but if they get distracted by something it wouldn't be hard.

"Well, I'm leaving it up to you. Figure it out." The Colonel responded, leaving Graham a little confused. He gave the Colonel a short salute and walked out of the office. It seemed that he had been pretty much been given full discretion over the Vampire and while he appreciated the immense responsibility it was a bit much. He walked down to Angel's cell to figure out what to do.

"If we let you come out with us to patrol, would you try to run?" Graham asked the Vampire bluntly. Angel looked at him, somewhat surprised at the suggestion.

"I don't know. Not if someone's life's in danger. Would you people try and find me?" Angel asked.

"Yes." Graham answered without doubt.

"Well then, I guess I wouldn't." Angel responded logically. Graham nodded and walked off to prepare the team that would go patrolling with the Vampire that night.


	10. Chapter 10

Buffy walked in to her house and after unceremoniously throwing her purse on the coach, headed mindlessly into the kitchen. The entire day had been something of a blur. She remembered her alarm clock going off, making her painfully aware that she had to go to work. Then, Charlie dutifully and awkwardly asked if she was okay to which she responded by robotically nodded her head. At some point she's pretty sure they scoped out some spots the cult might be holding up in but it was all pretty mundane and now she's back at home.

She took a moment to go through the fridge, now remembering that she was in fact hungry. After fixing herself a sandwich, Buffy sat down at the kitchen table and forced herself to focus. Last night, after her incredibly surreal dream things made sense. She could see the series of events that had to unfold for her to be happy, for her and Riley to make it. Now, things were a bit blurry again, and any adrenaline achieved by that moment of clarity long gone.

The one thing she remembered without a doubt was that she needed to tell Riley everything. And she planned to do that tonight. They're scheduled to get married in a week and if Buffy had to drag him kicking and screaming it's going to happen. Looking to the clock, she noticed it was just past five. She was almost certain Riley would be staying at Graham's, now the only question would be if he was there or still at the Initiative. Since Riley didn't usually go on patrol with the rest of the soldiers he tended to come home in time for dinner. However, with his current situation nothing was guaranteed.

Determined, Buffy went into the bathroom and fixed her hair and makeup before heading to Graham's apartment. After a stern three knocks on the door, she heard a familiar voice yell 'coming' before the door opened.

"Buffy." Riley said, slightly surprised. He had just gotten off of work and was changing when he heard the loud knocking. That hinted it was Buffy but a part of him was still unsure until he saw her face.

"You were right. I was selfish and stupid and I didn't tell you everything. But it's not too late - and you're right I need to do this and you need to know so grab a jacket." Buffy had basically planned the entire speech out on the way over. The assertiveness seemed to work as Riley, almost as if it were a reflex, grabbed his jacket and headed out.

"Where are we going?" He asked. To be perfectly fair, as upset and mad at he was, the entire day was just a giant reminder of how much we missed her. At work, he sat in his office doing mindless paperwork, trying to ignore the soldiers talking about the Vampire they had locked up. After his dream, he found that it was hard to control the impulse to stake Angel - it took every ounce of self control not to. The entire time, he just wanted Buffy to reassure him that it was a dream, and that this whole thing was blown way out of proportion in his mind.

"Well, Sunnydale's a small town. I'm going to give you the scenic tour of my first three years in Sunnydale." Buffy told him, a little nervous.

"So you're going to show me your and Angel's relationship?" Riley asked, obviously confused.

"Look, there's a lot more to it then that. There's a lot of stuff that's me and Angel and some other stuff that's just about me. But I also want you to understand that the store you pass by and think nothing of may have a greater meaning to me. And I want you to know that because I love you and you deserve to know everything there is about me and my past." Buffy told him, her eyes pleading towards the end. Riley nodded and continued walking, eventually finding himself at the high school.

"The high school?" Riley replied, looking at the newly ressurected building.

"The dramatic effect is kind of ruined by the fact that a nice new school is standing. However, about 10 years ago after being expelled from my old school I came to Sunnydale and started high school here. I guess you could say it changed everything. It's how I became the only Slayer ever to have friends for one." Buffy began, "But this place was more than all of that. It was our home base and everything. So much happened in this school - I mean, I guess it being over a hellmouth and all would contribute. But still...it's important." She finished.

As the sun set, the couple continued to walk around Sunnydale and Buffy recounted the various tales and stories of her years. Some of them, Riley found were familiar, others he had never heard. For the most part, he just stood there, listened, and watched. Occasionally, he would tense up, like when Buffy showed him where she drowned. Sure, he knew she had 'died' before but to actually be in the graveyard above where it happened was somewhat surreal.

Soon, the pair found themselves outside of the Bronze, where high school kids and townies were constantly coming and going. Buffy paused before beginning. "Angel lived right over there." She pointed to a random apartment in an adjacent building. At this point she appeared nervous, which of course made Riley feel nervous. She then told Riley the story of how she and Angel were together and the loophole on the curse.

This was a part of the tale Riley wasn't expecting. He watched as Buffy recalled her fear and tears welled up in her eyes. "He was so terrible, Riley." She told him. He couldn't help but hold her as she pulled herself together. After a few minutes embraced in one another, the two awkwardly separated and continued walking.

She told him about Angelus' reign of terror against her and her friends; about Spike and Druscilla and about Ms. Calender's tragic death. Eventually, the pair found themselves at a large but old mansion and Buffy stopped. "This place holds a lot of memories." Buffy said, looking at the place with an almost fearful look. "Have you ever heard of the demon Acathla?" She asked him, the first time she asked him anything that night.

After telling her he hadn't, she went into a short explanation on the demon that threatened to suck the world into hell in just one breath, and the crazy Vampire who wanted to revive him. Buffy began to hesitate, feeling almost uncomfortable continuing the tale. Riley gave her shoulder a slight squeeze, causing Buffy to look up and give him a slight smile. She closed her eyes for a moment and recounted breaking a deal with Spike and coming to the mansion to kill Angel.

"What happened? I mean obviously he's not dead." Riley said, somewhat confused by the fury of emotions coming across Buffy's face. She explained that she came to late, that Acathla had already been revived using Angel's blood and that only his blood could be used to close the portal.

"I had him. Kneeling in front of he statue and I was ready to impale him and destroy the portal and then it happened. His eyes glowed and he was no longer Angelus. His soul was back." Buffy told him. Riley smiled slightly, but then took a more grim face when it was obvious this turn of events wasn't a happy thing. "I still had to do it. Even if he was good. And he had no idea what was going on and I just did it - I killed him." Buffy finished.

Despite any feelings of dislike he had towards Angel, Riley was nevertheless saddened by what she had to do. Even today, he could tell the pain of what she had to do was still there. After taking a moment to recover from the onslaught of memories, Buffy continued. "I ran away after that. But, eventually I entered a hell of my very own and came back." She told him about LA and coming back to Sunnydale to face her mom and all her friends.

"A few weeks went by and I was trying as hard as I could to live my life. But really, I felt so guilty and so - uneasy. I went to say good bye and a few nights later, I found him, in the woods. He was like a wild animal so I had to keep him locked up." She told Riley how she had to rehabilitate him. Eventually, he heard about the first evil and the mayor, and how Faith turned to the dark side. Again, he had heard these storied before but now, with the inclusion of the Vampire with the soul the stories often took on a new meaning.

After taking a brief trip down to the sewers where he learned Angel broke up with her, they headed back towards the mansion. "Something else happened here?" Riley asked. Buffy simply nodded and continued walking.

"It was the day before the ascension and we ran into each other and of course we had to get into some argument. The next thing I know, there's an arrow show right above his chest." Buffy explained to Riley how Angel was poisoned as a means to distract Buffy and to eliminate Angel as a threat. "We discovered the only cure for the poison was the blood of a Slayer." As he heard this, Riley felt the blood drain from his cheeks.

"I immediately went to hunt for Faith. Despite my morality, this was different - bigger. In the end, I put her in a coma but before losing consciousness, she hopped onto the bed of a truck thereby ensuring I couldn't feed her to Angel." Riley nodded awkwardly, in all fairness a little uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation. "I couldn't just let him die, not when there was a viable solution. I made him feed off me." She awkwardly moved her hair and showed her the two little bits of scar tissue on her neck.

"I thought that was from a curling iron?" He asked her. He remember seeing the marks before and had himself thought them strange but she had answered the question without hesitation.

"It was a lie I had to use a lot my freshman year of college. It was a lot more obvious then." She informed him apologetically. She finished her story, explaining how he rushed her to the hospital where she was revived.

The pair began walking back to the school where Buffy informed Riley the story was coming to an end. She told Riley about their plan to take down the mayor. He learned how they succeeded and Buffy saved the day only to watch her love fade into the night. Once she was finished, the pair sat on a bench near the school, holding hands in silence. Riley was absorbing everything he'd learned and Buffy was simply exhausted from reliving so many old memories.

Neither of them noticed the park across the way where a small Initiative patrol searched for Vampires. Amongst them, Angel had been drawn to the two of them. Hidden by the night, he watched the two of them sit peacefully on the bench. "You know," Angel heard someone say from behind, "I might think your decent for a Vampire and all, but even think about screwing with either of them and I'll stake you without a second thought." Graham now came into full view.

"Don't worry. Buffy's my past - an important part but part of the past nonetheless. I'm just happy to find she's met someone and that they're human." Angel responded in as much earnest as he could muster. Sure, the rational side of his mind agreed with this. But a part of him ached as though something that was his was stolen. He swept these feelings aside, cursing the hormones associated with love, and continued to help patrol.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Buffy woke up the next morning and immediately relaxed feeling Riley's body next to her's. Following their surreal adventure the night before, the couple went home together, and having barely uttered two words since the conclusion of Buffy's tale, fell soundly asleep. Although they were only apart for one night, something not at all unheard of for the two demon hunters, it was still a great comfort for Buffy to simply know he was there.

Turning to her clock, she saw it was 8:00 AM and after a brief panic that she was late for work, came to the realization it was Saturday. Unwilling to wake up her sleeping fiancee, she crept out of bed and headed to the kitchen to make some breakfast. She was about to start prepping the bacon when she heard foot steps.

"Good morning." She smiled at him and continued scrambling the eggs.

"Good morning." He responded and headed over to give her a quick peck on the lips. Buffy's eyes shone with happiness that things were getting resolved. As awkward and uncomfortable the night before had been, it was necessary if she ever wanted things to get back to normal. "Food looks good." Riley remarked before taking a seat.

The two began eating in a somewhat awkward silence. "So, how have things been at the Initiative?" Buffy asked him. She cringed a little afterwards, unsure of whether or not it was a sore topic.

"Things have been pretty slow which has some of us worried." He replied, "How's it going with that cult case?"

"Good." She told him, "Well, actually, that's a lie. Seriously, we could take lessons from the secrecy of this group. We have a few more abandoned houses and buildings to check out as potential locations but they're like, invisible or something. And the worst thing is, no one really even knows what they're about only that when they show up bad things happen." At this point, Riley wasn't really paying that much attention and just nodding at her.

"Thank you. For," he paused, they were both uncomfortable but knew things needed to be said, "telling me everything. I could tell it was hard for you. I never imagined that's what your life was like before I met you." He told her.

"Of course I told you. You're everything to me and the only reason I didn't tell you before was my own inability to face my past." She told him and squeezed his hand. The two gave one another a reassuring look and continued to eat their breakfast.

"So, do you have any plans today?" He asked her.

"Not yet. There are a few last minute wedding things I should probably get done though." She told him. The one place they hadn't yet ventured was the wedding. Would it go on as planned or what? Buffy hoped her statement would let him know that she wanted to marry him and marry him in a week as per the plan.

"That sounds like a good idea. Would you like it it I joined you?" Riley replied, fully aware of the implication of his statement. Buffy couldn't maintain the double talk and just ran over to him and through herself over him.

"Thank you." She whispered to him.

He simply responded, "No, thank you." And the two started their Saturday.

* * *

A week and a day had passed without any exciting or traumatic events. Buffy and Riley, though their relationship was forever altered by the events of the week before, were nevertheless still very much in love and prepared for their wedding. Angel, still a 'guest' of the Initiative, was currently talking with the Colonel and some of his soldiers, now relatively comfortable with his captivity and able to help.

"Dude, are you sure you can do this?" Graham jokingly asked his best friend.

"Seriously? You're my best man, you're not supposed to say things like that!" Riley responded, his face in a mild state of panic as he was only 10 minutes away from being married.

"It's what they always do on TV so I figured it was appropriate." Graham responded. The two continued to get ready, Riley occasionally letting out a profanity, until he saw people getting settled and he made his way to the alter.

Riley stood at the alter, feeling as though time had come to a full stop. Here he was, surrounded family and friends as the woman he loved was about to marry him. What felt like an eon later but was really only a few minutes, he heard the change in music that signalled the wedding was about to begin.

The wedding was being held in one of the public parks in Sunnydale - during the day of course. About 75 folding chairs were laid out before a beautiful wedding arch designed by Buffy's mother herself. The theme, which was initially supposed to be daisies, was now daisies on Buffy's side and tulips on Riley's.

Buffy, Willow, and Giles stood behind a stand up curtain meant to keep Buffy from being seen. "Oh god. Oh god. The music changed. Why am I freaking out? Seriously. All I want is to marry him, why am I freaking out?" Buffy asked, her hand fanning her face and her eyes bulging.

Giles and Willow simply laughed, the later responding, "It's okay Buffy, it's your wedding day, you're supposed to be at least a little bit nervous." Buffy nodded at that, and closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. As she opened her eyes, she heard the music change and Willow gave her a hug, "That's my cue, I'll see you in a few minutes alright?" Buffy simply smiled and watched her friend gracefully step down the aisle.

"You ready Buffy?" Giles asked her, offering Buffy her arm. While Buffy's father was alive and in fact at the wedding, it was decided that Giles, who for all intents and purposes was the greatest masculine influence in her life would be the one to walk her down the aisle. Buffy took a few deep breaths before taking his arm and beginning their walk.

Whereas before time seemed to take forever, now Riley found time couldn't move slowly enough. He watched in childish anticipation as Buffy walked out of the curtain and into his frame of sight. His eyes went wide as he saw her in that white dress. The sun shone down on her and for an instant, when her eyes found his, it was like they were the only two people in the world.

Buffy walked down the aisle, her eyes refusing to leave Riley's. For the first time that day, she didn't feel nervous, she felt comfortable and whole. She knew this was the _right_ thing to do, that today was the first day of her future, and that made her smile. As she approached the aisle, she and Riley both turned to face each other.

As the reverend began his spiel, Buffy and Riley barely heard as they were only paying attention to one another. Their serene was quiet except the soft tone of the reverend, the soothing sounds of nature and the occasional sounds of a car passing from down the road. The ceremony continued on until Buffy became distracted by the sound of a little girl laughing. She looked past Riley and saw a little girl in white being chased by a boy in a small suit. The girl was laughing and Buffy couldn't help but smile a little. Suddenly, they were both stopped by two mothers who told them to sit quietly.

She faced Riley again, and soon found herself being given away by Giles. Buffy almost cried as Giles eyes watered, the gesture of giving her away incredibly powerful. Before she knew it, they were exchanging vows.

"Buffy," Riley began, "the day we met at the bookstore, my life was changed forever. I thought I knew what love was, but I had no idea." He paused and took in the bright smile on her face. "Every day I'm with you feels like the greatest gift in the world. Sure, some days it can be painful," a few people in the crowd that knew what he meant chuckled, "but every second is worth it. You have brought me more happiness than I ever knew possible. And I will always love you, through the good and the bad, in sickness and in health, until death do us part." Riley finished, placing Buffy's ring on her finger.

"Riley," she started, forcing the tears back in her eyes, "my life has always been - chaotic. When I found you, I knew I had found my other half. I love you so much." At this point, Buffy had to take a moment to regroup herself, "And I am so happy I get to spend the rest of my life with you. I promise you that no matter what, I will always love you." She finished and placed the wedding band on his left ring finger.

The two looked into one each other's eyes longingly as the reverend finished they ceremony and they were finally permitted to kiss. The audience, captivated and silenced by the ceremony, broke out into applause. Amongst them, Willow and Joyce were in all out tears and it was apparent that Xander was doing everything he could not to break down. As the sun shone brightly down on the ceremony, the feeling of happiness was omnipresent.

The couple walked hand in hand back up the aisle and made their way to where a large tent was set up for the reception. A local restaurant catered and soon the entire wedding was loudly eating and drinking. At the main table, Buffy and Riley sat with Joyce, Giles, Xander, Willow, Graham, and Riley's parents. The group chatted animatedly about how wonderful the ceremony was and how happy they all were for Buffy and Riley.

The reception continued on and the couple, now married, were in total bliss. As the afternoon waned and the sun began to set the party slowly died down, many people tired from their day in the sun. After throwing the bouquet, Buffy and Riley took off to thunderous applause and belting for their family and friends. They looked out the window of the limo and held hands as they watched the sun set, taking in the moment and one another in a way they hadn't been able to do all day.

* * *

A/N: Don't worry, there's still more to come! (That would've been a terrible ending, right?)


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

"The Slayer's life is a life of hardship." Spike told her.

"I don't get it. I confronted my past, I told, actually showed Riley everything. I even stopped by the Initiative and had an awkward conversation with Angel. What more do I have to do to get you out of my dreams?" Buffy asked impatiently.

"It's your head pet! All I know is that you need to wake up." Spike responded.

"I'd love to!" She responded and made a fruitless effort to wake up.

"Not literally I mean. You need to see everything! The Slayer's life is never easy, it is never fun, it is without reward and it is with pain." He told her in a clinical manner.

"I've heard that before. What can I say, I'm not a conformist." She told him, blantantly confused. Suddenly, they moved from the field in the sun to a cemetery at night. "Now, this is more the setting I expected to see you." Buffy told the Vampire.

"Just stop talking and watch pet." He told her and pointed to the movement coming out from some bushes. Buffy did as he said and watched the girl, now in pair of white pants and white jacket walk into the graveyard. She stood by a headstone, and waited. At this point, Buffy was getting impatient and was about to say something when Spike held a finger up to his mouth. She watched the girl, as she waited around, and suddenly, the little girl broke down into tears.

"What's wrong with her?" Buffy asked.

"You tell me." Spike asked.

* * *

Buffy awoke with a start. It was still dark outside and beneath all the covers she was drenched in sweat. The dream had made her feel something, something she couldn't quite comprehend but the moment she woke up all reminiscence of that feeling were gone and she felt relieved. She looked over and Riley was sound asleep. She stared at him, and found comfort in his form. After failing to fall back asleep, she quietly slipped out of bed and headed outside.

They chose to have their honeymoon at a secluded resort in LA. Because of the bad timing nature of their jobs, they wanted to be somewhere close to Sunnydale but still wanted the feeling of a honeymoon faraway. She stood at the balcony and watched the waves of the ocean and felt the wind. The sun had not yet begun to rise and she felt the darkness, and the way it sang to the Slayer within.

After a few minutes, she began to cool down and felt tired again. She crept back into bed and fell asleep, her mind still plagued by dreams.

* * *

On the last day of their honeymoon, Riley and Buffy were sitting at a table enjoying breakfast and relishing in the last day of their vacation. "Do we have to go home?" Buffy asked.

"No, we can stay here forever." Riley replied with a slight smirk on his face. Buffy gave a slight yawn and continued eating her eggs. For the past week, not a single Vampire or demon threatened them. It was sheer bliss really and she found herself at moments forgetting all about her calling as a Slayer and all of the problems that went along with that.

While Riley too would be sad to leave their honeymoon behind, he was also looking forward to reentering normal life. Ever since Angel had entered the Initiative, everything had seemed like a whirlwind and he was just hoping that once they got home things would settle down and be as they had always been.

Though he hadn't said anything, he noticed something was going on with Buffy. When she didn't think anyone was paying attention, he'd notice her in deep thought, occasionally he'd see her looking towards the sunset looking confused, almost irritated. He hoped that whatever was going on that Buffy would let him help her handle it. Another part of him hoped it was all in his head and nothing was going on.

After breakfast, the two headed back to their suite to pack. The now married couple reminisced about their week. They would hold up an outfit before packing it, and remark on whatever adventure it was associated with. They laughed, and eventually they were all packed and ready to leave this version of happiness behind.

* * *

While Riley and Buffy enjoyed a rare week of peace, the rest of the scooby gang tirelessly researched Spike's apocalypse. Unfortunately, each bit of information they found was more cryptic then the last. At this point, Giles had all but conceited that they would figure it out when 'things went down' as Xander so eloquently put it.

Over at the Initiative, Angel had found himself being more and more immersed with the military group. His day usually consisted of talking to some research division, hanging out with Graham, and once night fell accompanying one of the teams on patrol. Perhaps it was because Riley wasn't there but the members of the Initiative were far more receptive to him than he had ever imagined. Sure, there were many (particular the newer recruits) who made no effort to hide their distaste for him but many appreciated that they were on the same side.

With no mention of Riley or Buffy and no encounters with the Scooby gang, Angel had all but forgotten he was in Sunnydale. In fact, his working with the Initiative was beginning to feel like her was doing just that - working for the initiative. He had even been moved from his cell to a more comfortable room where he actually had some privacy.

However, this easiness was about to change. Angel had just gotten up and headed to a small common area when he ran into Riley Finn in the hall. Finn, who had been apprised of the situation upon returning from his honeymoon and was still filled with the memories Buffy relayed to him (as well as that dream which continued to haunt him), was at a loss for words.

"Hi. I don't think we were ever really properly introduced. I'm Angel." Angel, in an unconvincing display of confidence, held his hand out. After a large and audible gulp, Riley shook the Vampire's hand.

"Riley." He responded. After the awkward hand shake, the two just stood across from each other, unsure of what to say.

"Congratulations," Angel said, somewhat forced. "I'm glad Buffy found someone who could make her happy. She deserves the best." He finished with obvious implications. While Riley didn't like Angel simply because of his past with Buffy, he had to give the guy some credit. He still cared about her and in his own way had just threatened Riley.

"Thanks." Riley responded, afterwords admonishing himself for his inability to say more than one word. "Well, training class is about to start." He said and started walking away. Riley passed Graham as he left, and after the two had a brief conversation about his honeymoon, Graham walked over to Angel.

"Man, that must have been awkward." Graham said, while reaching into the refrigerator and grabbing an apple.

"Tell me about it." Angel replied, obviously deep in thought.

"You better not be thinking about her." Graham told him in a stern voice.

"He is good enough for her, right? I mean, she's not settling?" Angel asked, with overwhelming concern.

Graham just laughed. "Na, they're in love. Have been for years it seems. And Riley's the best guy I know." He gave Angel a slight jab in the arm, "You know, this has got to be the least likely conversation I ever imagined having with a Vampire."

"You're telling me. I'm comfortably wandering around a military base whose sole purpose is to hunt demons." The two shared a laugh and began their day.

In another part of the base, Riley found himself sparring with a new recruit in one of the gyms. For the past week there had been no Angel, no reminder of the past or any of that nonsense. Even the week before their wedding, with Angel more or less a prisoner, he had been able to easily avoid the Vampire. But now, he found himself in a situation where he was forced to be civil, and he hated it.

Of course, he wasn't sure what else he could do? Stake him? Not only would Buffy hate him but the Initiative wouldn't be too happy with him either. He could always pick a fight with him or something but Riley knew that was simply immature. In the end, logic won out and Riley conceited this was a situation none of them wanted to be in and civility was the right course of action.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

After a week of being well rested, Buffy headed back to work in a reasonably happy and bubbly mood. "Charlie! How's are cult?" She asked her partner as she approached the desk.

"Still eluding us." He responded. Only then did she notice the dark circles under his eyes.

She frowned. "Why haven't you been sleeping?" In the past, Charlie had been known not to sleep when a particularly difficult or horrific case had been brought to them. Buffy had taken extreme measures such as drugging him in the past to force him to sleep.

With those memories firm in his head, he shook his head, "Don't worry, boss has made sure I get my alloted sleep each night. It's just, the more I read, or re-read, the more worried I get. Sure, this town is weird but this cult isn't like anything I've ever heard of." Buffy frowned at that description - it was hard to imagine something weird by Sunnydale standards.

"Well, what do we have to go on?" Buffy asked, trying to be as helpful as she could despite being behind.

"Since all of the locally abandoned places have more or less turned up empty, we now have a list of recently acquired homes and the like. I figure maybe these guys bought a place, who knows." Charlie was obviously confused and concerned. Buffy gave him a sympathetic look and took the list from his hands.

"Alright. You're going to get a nap in. I'll check out the first few places on this list. When I come back, you better look better or I'm doing the rest of this on my own." She threatened him. While he knew she could take care of herself, a part of him still hated himself for letting her go off on her own and therefore the threat she would do all the legwork herself resonated deeply.

"Alright, alright boss." He told her with his hands in the air. He headed to the off duty room and slipped into the lower bunk, falling fast asleep. Buffy smiled, proud of getting her way with no bloodshed and began to check out the places on the list.

Buffy returned to the station, with lunch in hand, having unsuccessfully located the cult. She entered the off duty room and smiled upon seeing Charlie calmly asleep on the bunk. Unwilling to wake him, she put his lunch in the fridge and chose to wait for him before continuing her search. She was at her desk, researching the remaining possible locations of the cult when Charlie appeared at her side, marks from a pillow etched upon his left cheek.

"Have a good nap?" Buffy asked. He gave her a glare and grabbed up the list.

"Ya ya thanks mom. Can we go now?" While he may have hid it, Buffy knew her parter was in fact thankful for her interference. She smiled and stood up, leading the way to her car.

The first four places they searched were plots of land. They searched for hidden bunkers or trailers - any signs that people had set up some sort of living quarters. Two of the places were currently under construction with no signs of sketchy behavior and the other two were clearly just empty. The sun was about to set and Buffy was ready to call it a day but Charlie, feeling guilty about napping for so long, suggested seeing just one more.

Just as the sun set, Buffy and Charlie pulled up about a block away from a house that was recently foreclosed upon. After looking at the place, Buffy wondered how the place could be considered livable. It was large, appeared to have at least 6 bedrooms but was isolated on a plot of land about 6 times its size. The lack of trees and other brushery gave Buffy a bad feeling.

"You getting the heeby jeebies?" Charlie asked his partner, himself getting a chill from the eerie haunted house vibe this place was giving off. Buffy simply nodded her head and the two tried to sneak closer, hoping to find some link to this cult. As they got closer to the house, Buffy saw a symbol planted on the front door. She thought it looked somewhat familiar and cataloged the symbol to research later if this place panned out.

The next minute was practically a blur. Out of nowhere, Buffy felt the presence of a Vampire and without really thinking she grabbed her stake and turned around. Sure enough, two Vampires there began attacking the detectives. Unsure of what to do, Charlie reached for his gun and more or less froze, looking to Buffy for guidance. What he saw came as a bit of a surprise. While he knew Buffy was stronger and faster than she looked, she was taking on these two guys with an ease and elegance of a trained fighter. He then noticed the stake in her right hand and raised his eyebrows. Before he knew it, she had jabbed the stake in both of their hearts and before his very eyes they turned into dust.

Looking to Buffy, Charlie thought she looked pensive, or maybe just confused. Upon feeling his glare, Buffy suddenly remembered that she was not alone and her face paled at what she would have to say. "So." She started.

"Vampires are real?" He asked, in a somewhat curious voice.

"Yup." She responded, so far relieved he wasn't freaking out.

"Figures." Charlie grunted. Buffy took in a deep breath, relieved that Charlie wasn't demanding anymore answers. Charlie himself felt like a bit of an idiot. Here he was, in a town where people seemed to jab themselves with a fork everyday and while he had his suspicions he never really put it together. Looking at the petite blonde, he knew there was more but frankly the less he knew the better as far as he was concerned. "So Vampires here," he started now more or less fully recovered, "why?"

"I'm not sure," Buffy started, her furrowed eyebrows revealing her deep in thought, "but I can usually sense Vamps within a 100 ft radius. I didn't sense these guys until they were right up on us. I really hope I'm wrong, but I think we found the cult." Charlie just nodded his head, looking up at the house ahead.

"What's up with the symbol?" He asked, pointing to the symbol Buffy had previously noticed at the front of the house. It appeared to be a triangle within a triangle within a circle, and it was blood red (which actually made Buffy wonder if it was, in fact, blood?)

"I noticed it earlier. I know some people who might have more answers. For now, we should really get out of here." Buffy suggested. Charlie's face revealed that he would like nothing more and the two hurried into their car and headed back to the police station.

* * *

By the time Buffy had gotten home, Riley had already eaten dinner and was watching some sporting event on the coach. She smiled at the domesticity of the situation, although it wasn't really new seeing as how they've lived together for a few years. After a quick greeting, she headed into the kitchen to grab some leftover pasta out of the refrigerator and heat it up.

"So," Riley began, having turned off the television, "why are you home so late?" The question was out of concern, Buffy noticed, but also a little worried.

She smiled at him, "Charlie and I had a list of leads, and we were trying to cover as much ground as possible. In fact, I think we found the cult and some Vampires." Buffy finished, noticing Riley's worried face.

"Coincidence or is there a connection?" Riley asked.

"I think there's definatly a connection." Buffy finished. She was about to tell him about her inability to feel the Vampire's presence but decided against it, not wanting to worry her husband. "I'm planning a Scooby meeting tomorrow night. Does that work for you?" She asked.

He shrugged and responded, "So long as nothing comes up." Riley sat at the table drinking a beer while Buffy ate her pasta, unsure of whether she wanted him to stay with her. After a few awkward moment, he went back to watching the game.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

The next day at work was not as fruitful as Buffy would have liked. She and Charlie were currently trying to find any real evidence of who bought the house and land they found the day before. So far, they found that the house was purchased by a dead guy a little over a year ago. Hoping maybe this was a lead, Buffy and Charlie went to the cemetery he was buried and reluctantly dug up the body, only to discover the deceased was indeed still dead.

Buffy was still optimistic she would be able to solve this riddle one way or another. She returned home at around 5 PM and found the rest of the gang already there waiting for her. They looked somewhat anxious, having only heard she may have found a nest of Vampires, which given the presence of the Slayer and the Initiative in Sunnydale was rather uncommon.

It took only about 10 minutes for Buffy to explain the situation. Her friends all gave her a look of concern when Buffy told them the Vampires were not recently turned and in fact had some fighting prowess. They all laughed, however, upon hearing of Charlie's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy regarding Vampires.

Finally, Buffy pulled out the sheet of paper where she drew the symbol plastered on the front of the house. She asked the group, and particularly Willow and Giles to take a look at it, hoping it would ring a bell for somebody. Giles promised to look into it, believing it may well hold the key to identifying the Vampires and the group's conversation turned from business to friendly.

An hour later, Riley had finished cooking dinner for everyone and the entire gang sat around the kitchen table enjoying one another's company. Buffy looked around found herself captivated by the darkness outside. For minutes she sat there, staring outside the window as though it held some answer she needed to find. Her eyes narrowed, as though if she tried hard enough she could find whatever elusive force was eluding her.

"Oh no! Nothing was worst than when you and Amy messed up that love spell!" Willow's loud voice broke Buffy out of her concentration. The group was, for the most part, none the wiser to Buffy's zone out. Riley, however, gave her a concerned look and mouthed across the table _are you alright?_ Buffy shook her head, feeling as though she had fallen asleep for a moment.

The dinner continued on as it usually did, only Riley showing any look of concern. The group laughed and reminisced of old times, any and all worries forgotten in that small time. Even Buffy easily set aside her bad dreams to appreciate the moments they all had together.

After the group left, Buffy almost immediately complained of needing sleep and headed to bed. Riley looked at her, a little disappointed they wouldn't be able to spend more time alone but conceited that it was getting late. Buffy was sound asleep when Riley entered the bedroom, and for a moment just watched her and smiled at how peaceful she looked.

* * *

"Seriously? You're here again?" Buffy asked incredulously.

"Sorry love, you think I want to be in your dreams?" The bleached vampire rebuked. This time, rather than the field or the cemetery they were in an alley outside of the bronze.

"Why are we here? I haven't set foot in this place for years!" She asked, genuinely annoyed. She secretly hoped for some prophetic slayer dream to guide her on whatever was going on.

"Not everything's about you, Slayer. Well, actually, it kind of is because this is your dream. But that's not the point." Spike informed her, "We're going to the Bronze and that's final." Before Buffy could reply, she was sitting at the bar drinking some mix drink with too much sugar.

"What is this?" She asked after taking a sip, somewhat disgusted. She watched as Spike took a sip of his, enjoying it way to much.

"An amaretto sour. Isn't it great?" Buffy simply nodded her head awkwardly and started looking around the Bronze, searching for the reason she was there.

"So why are we here?" Buffy asked, pushing her drink to the side. So far everything looked incredibly characteristic of the Bronze - a band playing, lot so people there, etc. Nothing struck her as dream like at all.

"I thought you might want to talk." Spike responded, having drained his drink and now grabbed the one Buffy set aside.

Buffy looked at him somewhat disdainfully. "Why on earth would I want to be sitting here talking to you?" She asked him.

"You've been confused haven't you? Trying to figure out your place in the world, being a married woman?" Spike asked her, his voice getting louder as more people entered the Bronze.

"Not really," Buffy responded with a shrug. She took a moment to get the bartender's attention and get a coke. The last thing she wanted to get drunk in her own dream - just thinking about the concept was giving her a head ache.

"Are you sure, love?" Spike asked, his eyebrows raised in skepticism.

"Sure, lately I haven't been feeling completely myself. But I just got married, my life is stable and more or less laid out. That can be a little scary, but I'm not confused. I'm just adjusting to a stable, normal life." Buffy responded with a shrug of her shoulder. The bartender handed her a coke and she thanked him and took a sip.

"But you're life has been normal for a while now hasn't it, shouldn't you be done adjusting?" Spike challenged her.

"Well, there's a difference between normal and really normal." Buffy responded. Spike raised his eyebrows once again, doubting her explanation. Buffy had to admit, there was something bothering her but she couldn't quite place it. It was obvious for a split moment, and everything was so clear and suddenly it would muddle up again and she was back at square one. She could swear that sometimes between being asleep and awake she saw it all, everything she needed to see so clearly. And then she would wake up, unenlightened. "That reminds me," she began asking him, "if you're some manifestation of my sub conscience then why can't you just tell me what you want me to know? Why is it all cryptic and annoying?"

Spike laughed, "Well, there are two obvious answers. Either I am in fact not a manifestation of your sub conscience but in fact some higher being guiding you, or you have yet to figure out what you need to know and this is your mind's way of trying to figure it out." Spike finished and downed the rest of his drink.

Buffy accepted the answer and moved on. "Alright. Lets see, I just got married, the slayer in me doesn't like that and is trying to find a way out?"

Spike shook his head. "Not that simple love. The slayer in you has been yelling for years. Doesn't like life in the light that one."

"Well, maybe she's yelling louder now?" She suggested, for some reason desperate to solve the riddle laid before her.

"Keep telling yourself that." He responded, taking a large sip of the new drink sitting in front of him.

"I'm onto something though right? Some part of me is rebelling for my lifestyle, the way I'm living a common life. It's like what you said on my honeymoon, that I'm the slayer and I'm not meant to live this way." Buffy suggested, looking intently at Spike for any hint that she was right.

"That's some good logic there, pet. Keep up the good work. But don't give yourself an aneurysm thinking too hard though." He said in a somewhat sarcastic tpme, rolling his eyes a bit during the last part.

"Alright. So I'm missing something obvious but I'm on the right track. So what do I do? Patrol more? Meditate?" Buffy asked. She watched as Spike started laughing and her and spilled his fruity drink everywhere. "You're drunk. In my dream you're drunk! This is ridiculous." Buffy threw her head back and began pinching herself, hoping to find some way to wake up.

"It is ridiculous. But this is you're head after all."


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

The entire next day at work, Buffy had trouble concentrating. Her dream was disturbing on a number of levels, not to mention the base weirdness of it. Charlie and her were back at the border of the estate they had found the cult the previous evening. In the daylight, she didn't fear much but the fact she still could not feel a Vampire presence scared her more than anything else.

The two took pictures as well as jotted down specs on what they saw. Buffy as well as Charlie knew this wasn't going to be some ordinary op - but they figured the more information they could gather the better.

"What's still bothering me though is all the information we have on them." Buffy thoughtfully observed, "Their victims appear to be mutiliated and not drained. And then the agents or cops who get close disappear. It's all very strange." Buffy thought for a moment and then a thought dawned on her.

"What is it?" Charlie asked, alarmed as her face paled.

"I'm going to need that file." Buffy stated, the alarm evident in her voice.

* * *

"What's the emergency, Buffy?" Giles asked, somewhat nervous about what was so urgent.

"Brace yourselves," She said before tossing the photos on the table. "Does this look at all like a sacrifice to you?" She asked. Giles and Willow's eyes both narrowed as they took in the pictures, both obviously a little sickened. Suddenly, Giles looked up and had a thoughtful glimmer in his eye and proceeded to stand up and grab a book from his study.

"What is it Giles?" Willow asked, her eyes wide. She was holding herself in a way that told Buffy that she was fearful on more than a human level.

"It's this." He pointed to a similar image.

"The demon Nanaka? As in Naka's day?" Buffy asked, now somewhat confused. The caption told them that untold millenia ago, the demon Nanaka was captured in human formed, tortured, mutilated, and sent back to hell for all eternity. "So this has something to do with Spike's apocalypse?" Buffy asked, her shoulders dropping.

"Possibly." Giles responded, now cleaning his eye glasses. "The reason I never looked much into Nanaka before is that the day of his excorcism is celebrated by Vampire and Human alike. He was an ancient demon who viewed Vampire's and humans as equally vermin. I figured the timing was a coincidence." Giles finished, chastising himself for never considering the option. Buffy looked at him a little confused so he continued, "Spike described the immediate threat as being a Vampire who wanted to ressurect him. Now, while most demons are happy to have Vampires do their dirty work Nanaka would never hear of it. In fact, some believed he hated Vampires more than humans because at least humans weren't pretending to be something they weren't." Buffy nodded her head in understanding.

"So are these Vampires really stupid or what?" Willow asked, her face concerned.

"I'm not sure. But we're going to need to know more." Giles gave a look that told the group there was more research coming.

"Alright, so this cult is mutilating their victims in the same manner that the demon their trying to resurrect died. Is that a part of the summoning process or ascension or something?" Buffy asked, trying to put together all of the pieces they had.

"I've never heard of anything like that before. In fact, there is very little on summoning Nanaka in here, apparently almost every reference on how to summon him has been destroyed," Giles rambled on, "as to this Vampire cults victims, I believe it is their way of showing respect to the demon, as odd as it may seem."

"Which still leaves the question to why some Vampires would even want to resurrect him, I mean, that's psychotic even for Vampires!" Willow stated, her eyes wide in an attempt to find some logic. "It's like, a human summoning a demon!" Willow began and they contemplated that this was not uncommon.

"Humans do it all the time because they're ignorant, it can't be that simple, can it?" Buffy asked? Willow was about to pitch in when Xander busted through the doors.

"Sorry I'm late, I was just at the construction site and it took me a while to find an excuse to leave, what's going on?" He asked. They caught him up and Xander contemplated the situation. "I mean, ignorance isn't really a human specialty, is it? Can't Vampires be idiots too? And who knows, maybe the fact that this guy is so evil makes them feel cooler?"

They all agreed this was a reasonable train of thought but Buffy felt uncomfortable. What her friends were describing sounded like a group of young Vampires, recently turned, trying to summon a demon for kicks. Her experiences so far with this cult, however, suggested they were reasonably well trained and had some knowledge of magic, if it was magic that disabled her ability to sense the presence of Vampires. She contemplated telling her friends about that most recent development, something she had conveniently forgotten to mention earlier, when a thought occurred to her.

"What if these Vampires were simply a part of some bigger demon's plan? Maybe they're hired help or some lackeys?" Buffy suggested, attempted to make sense of what was going on.

Giles shook his head, "No, the more we learn the more I'm confidant that this cult and Spike's apocalypse are one in the same and Spike assures us it was Vampires who were to raise the demon. For right now, however, I think we should hold off on trying to understand the psychology of these Vampires and concentrate on the summoning and do what we can to stop them." The entire group nodded their heads in agreement and went back to research.

Buffy looked up from her research and suddenly realized it was dark already. "What time is it?" She asked Giles.

Looking a little taken aback by her sudden outburst, he responded, "6:45, what is it?"

"I've gotta get home." She started heading out, and then stopped before crossing the threshold. A part of her felt compelled to tell Giles about the way she couldn't sense the Vampires but with too much pride, she took the roundabout approach.

"Did you have any luck figuring out what that symbol we found on the front door meant?" She asked quickly. After he replied negatively she once again thanked the group for everything, said her goodbyes and headed on home.

* * *

Riley was excited to leave work early but that excitement was somewhat dulled when he got home and Buffy wasn't there. He searched for a note or message of some kind and was disappointed when he found none. Under the assumption she would return soon, he went into the kitchen to prepare some dinner.

About 45 minutes later, the oven went off and Buffy almost immediately entered their home. She was notably disheveled and tired as she slipped of her shoes and immediately collapsed on the coach. After removing the dish he prepared from the even, Riley quickly jogged into the living room to check on Buffy.

"What happened? Are you alright?" Riley asked, kneeling beside her and assuming the worst.

She chuckled, "I'm fine Riley, just relaxing, it's been a long day at the office."

"I noticed, you're home late! It did give me the opportunity to cook you dinner though." He said with a smile that grew wider as he saw her eyes bolt open in recognition of the smells coming from the kitchen.

"You are amazing." She said and then raised her arms as a sign for him to drag her to the kitchen. After they had been sitting at the table and Buffy had something of substance in her stomach, they began a typical discussion of their day.

"Everything at the Initiative is going more or less as usual," the more or less they both knew was Angel but neither really wanted to broach the subject. Despite both of their talks of openness some things were unnecessary to bring up, "how was your day? What kept you so late?" Buffy was usually home by 5 PM and rarely if ever did Riley beat her home.

"Well actually I had an epiphany at work and called an impromptu Scooby meeting." She responded, not really looking him completely in the eye.

"Oh. What happened? Why didn't you call me?" Riley asked somewhat awkwardly, a little hurt that he wasn't included by he didn't want to come off as overly upset by it.

"My cult's victims were all mutilated in a particularly - strange way. I realized it may have something demonic in nature so decided Giles should check it," she responded nonchalantly, her eyes still concentrated on her food, "it was more of a quick update. I figured you had your own demons to hunt and I'd let you know now." And indeed, she did update him on everything she and the rest of the Scoobys discussed, and Riley agreed that this was all very strange.

Following dinner, the newlyweds curled up on the coach to watch some sitcom. However, Riley found himself not paying attention to the screen but watching Buffy who alternated between laughing was staring out into space, looking both deep in thought and thoughtless at once. He was concerned, but felt that concern leave him as Buffy snuggled closer into him. The couple eventually headed upstairs and Riley contently went to sleep.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

A little after midnight, Buffy jolted awake aware she had been having a dream but without any true memory of what the dream was about. She found this a little strange considering her string of dreams with Spike were practically memories to her. She brushed her hand against her forehead and realized she was sweating so the dream must have been quite intense. Upon looking at her sleeping husband, Buffy decided he was too at peace to bother and quietly crept down to the kitchen.

Downstairs, she grabbed a glass of water and a few slices of cheese and paced the kitchen floor willing herself to grow tired once again. Conceiting defeat, she went into the living room and flicked through the TV channels hoping to find something mundane enough to force her asleep. After a restless 30 minutes of this, Buffy stared outside and became instantly mesmerized by the night and figured out the one thing she could do to tire her out.

Buffy quickly grabbed a change of clothes and the emergency slaying bag out of the downstairs closet and quietly headed out into the dead of night. Rarely if ever now did she do a basic patrol, and she almost always went with an Initiative patrol when she did do one. All in all, it just didn't seem logical for just one girl to go around doing it when a whole unit could do it (and notably, were being paid to.)

Reminiscent of her high school days, Buffy started her patrol at a cemetery close to her Mom's house. She crept about slowly, not wanting to alert any bad guys or the Initiative for that matter. After combing the place and realizing there were no demons or newly dug graves to indicate there would soon be one, she moved on to a local park.

It was in the park she spied on a couple who couldn't be more than seventeen years old. She wondered for a moment what they were doing out so late on a school night when she remembered what she would have been doing at seventeen and silently laughed to herself. Then, she noticed two Vampires, a man and a woman slowly creeping out from behind a large tree.

"Here we go." Buffy mumbled to herself and crept forward to be better equipped to jump in when necessary. She watched as the two Vampires walked towards the couple and ran into them as though it was an accident.

"Oh! Sorry wasn't paying attention!" The female Vamp said, eying the human girl with a look of thirst.

"It's okay." The young girl responded, clearly uncomfortable.

"No it's not," now the male Vampire spoke up, "please, let us repay you, buy you guys something to eat." He snickered.

"It think we'll be going now." The boy responded, placing his right arm possessively around the girl and walking as quickly as possible in the opposite direction. The Vampires watched and smiled broadly, preparing to chase their prey.

"You know, I'll take you up on that offer for a free meal." Buffy told them, smiling and acting all innocent. The male gave the female a look who responded with a shrug, "But then again, I would imagine in return you would just suck me dry, right?" This surprised the two but didn't stop them from circling her.

"If you know what we are girl, then you know your time is short. Why didn't you run?" The male Vampire asked, now fully in game face.

"What came I say, I'm helpless." She responded monotonously and proceeded to jab the Vampire in his mouth with her right fist. The Vampire flew and hit the swingset behind him. Buffy quickly turned and stuck her left leg out, kicking the female in the stomach and sending her flying in the opposite direction.

Buffy took fighting stance and prepared for the counter attack. Sure enough, both Vampire got up and looked utterly furious that the small girl had caught them off guard. "Slayer." She heard the female sneer and the two started attacking. The fight went on for three minutes, about 2 minutes and 45 seconds longer than it needed to. Buffy's adrenaline pumped as she over powered the two Vamps and finally stood alone in the dark, the battle's only memories the piles of dust.

She was about to continue her patrol when she heard the sound of clapping and knew she had been busted. Unfortunately, Buffy couldn't help the smirk plastered on her face that showed her pride for her own abilities. "Buffy, it's an honor to see you in action." Graham told her jokingly giving a slight bow. "But might I ask what a young lady as yourself is doing out here all alone at night?"

"Couldn't sleep. Figured I should do some slaying, I don't wanna get rusty and let one of you soldiers beat me now, do I?" She responded, a playful smile on her lips. She looked around, a little nervous for some reason that she'd see Angel. "Where's Angel, I thought he was patrolling with you guys now?"

"He usually does but I gave him the night off - he makes it too easy for everyone else." He responded with a small smirk. Then he frowned a bit, "Why, is there something you needed from him?"

"No." Buffy quickly responded, dismissing the growing disappointment she felt at the news. She paused and regrouped, "Actually, there was one thing I was hoping to ask him but you might as well do it being how buddy buddy you apparently are." Though she rarely visited the Initiative and Riley rarely talked about Angel, it had become apparent from even the briefest discussion that Angel and Graham had reluctantly become friends. "There's this symbol I recently found, and I was hoping he might be able to provide some insight." Buffy quickly drew the symbol on a spare piece of paper and passed it to the soldier.

"No problem Mrs. Finn." He told her, with another smirk. The two then discussed their individual patrol plans and Buffy reluctantly agreed to tag along with Graham and his boys for the rest of her patrol.

* * *

Riley arrived at work at about 9 the next morning, a little tired from unsettling dreams that had already faded into a distant and incoherent memory. He was about to go searching for Graham when he remembered Graham had patrol the night before and was therefore not going to get to work til late.

Frustrated for no reason he could logically fathom, Riley headed to the recruits training room with a little more 'umph' than he normally would have. Spotting the same kid who gave him grief about a month earlier, Riley went over to pick at the kid's fighting habits. "You know, if you keep up the defensive the Vampire is going to kill you. You've got to be willing to stake him."

"Alright." Eric responded, acknowledging the challenge for what it was. The two squared off on the mat and while many other spars continued many of the room's inhabitants stopped to watch the spectacle. Out of the corner of his eye, Riley could've sworn he saw a few of the recruits making bets.

The fight was uncomfortably one sided. Each time Eric even tried to take the offense Riley would cut him off, proving his veteran status to the younger soldier. After a few minutes of Riley giving Eric a chance only to stop him in some way or another, Riley ended the fight with Eric down on the ground, obviously defeated. The onlookers were more or less impressed, although a little concerned by the manic way in which Riley took on his opponent.

Riley held his hand out and helped the younger soldier up, who attempted to use the moment to bring Riley down but was thwarted in his effort. The two shook hands and Eric reluctantly agreed he could possibly have something to learn from him. The confrontation had helped settled Riley's nerves and he now conducted himself in a more calm manner as he helped the trainees prepare for their first patrols.

A couple hours into the training session, Graham walked in appearing to have just woken up in one of the solider bunks. Still drinking his morning coffee, he walked up to Riley and admired the progress the recruits were making. "Ya know, a month ago I would've said they were all worthless but some of them aren't half bad. I think a couple of them could even hold their own against a weak Vampire." Graham remarked and took another sip of his coffee. "So, how's Buffy after last night's patrol?"

This immediately got Riley's attention, "What patrol?" Riley asked and Graham suddenly felt the blood escape from his cheeks.

"I figured she told you - I ran into her on patrol last night. She staked two Vamps and so I convinced her to tag along with us no biggie." Graham said, a little concerned for his best friend. Riley took a deep breath. He had neither heard Buffy leave nor return the previous night and had assumed upon waking that she was already at work.

"I guess she didn't want to wake me up." Riley stating looking obviously dissaspointed.

"Well, from what she told me, she just couldn't sleep. Ya know, she probably just didn't want to disturb you." Graham dismissed the situation with a small hand wave. "Well, I'll leave you here with the kiddies, I do have important - things to attend to." And with that, Graham departed leaving Riley more than a little uneasy.

Graham, on the other hand, brushed the situation off easily, happy to have had a decent night sleep after a successful patrol. After completing some paper work in his office, he headed to his afternoon training session with Angel.

Since Angel and the Initiative had reached their tentative 'alliance', Graham was usually given a list of things to ask the Vampire each day. In addition, Angel would show Graham useful techniques and attempt to teach him all the ways to kill various demons. It was all very exciting and disconcerting to Graham who didn't realize just how many different kinds of evil there was out there.

After their usual session, Graham suddenly remembered what Buffy had asked of him the night before and dug into his jacket for the paper. "Does this symbol mean anything to you?" He asked the Vampire bluntly. He watched Angel's face as it went from scanning, to recognition, to a bit of fear, and then confusion.

"Where did you get this?" Angel asked in a tone more demanding than he intended.

Graham was slightly taken aback by the Angel's tone, "Buffy gave it to me last night, wanted me to see if you knew what it was." Angel's eyes then became somewhat calculating as he tried to solve some unknown secret.

"It's an old ritual - well a spell actually. It enables a Vampire to remain hidden from the world. Very tricky to cast though, but worth it if possible. Any witch who tries to find the Vampire's location will be stumped, same with demon - anyone. It makes the Vampire invisible to the supernatural world." Angel informed him, "But I always thought that spell was lost. I know a few over the past couple hundred years who have tried putting that symbol on their doors in hope of remaining unseen, but it has never worked." Graham frowned a little.

"Well, maybe these Vampires have done the same. For all we know, it didn't work at all?" Graham stated as more of a question than a comment. Angel just looked at him in a 'if only life were that simple' kind of way and the two agreed Buffy needed to thread her current situation carefully.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

"Spike!" Buffy yelled loudly over the music playing at the bar. Looking around, she realized she was in some resort, most likely in Hawaii judging from the scenery. If that wasn't enough, she looked down to realize she was wearing a leis and immediately ripped it off. Annoyed, she grabbed the bleached haired Vampire by the top of his arm and dragged him away from the music. "Why are we always at some bar? What happened to the pleasent sunny meadow?" She asked somewhat annoyed.

"What can I say, I got bored!" He told her as he took a sip of his pina coloda and proceeded to spin the little umbrella, obviously entertained.

"This is getting so annoying!" She mumbled more to herself than him.

"Is it now? How do you think I feel?" Spike asked, trying to appear hurt.

"I don't know, maybe if you feel so bad you should just leave my dreams alone." She added. Spike merely laughed.

"You know it's not me keeping me here." He stated and then took a moment to ponder the statement, "What I meant was I'm powerless - it's your rudding dreams!"

"Alright, alright, what is it this time?" She asked, folding her arms across her chest impatiently.

"How have you been feeling lately?" Spike asked somewhat awkwardly. Buffy looked at him incredulously.

"Really? You're my shrink now." She asked. Spike simply shrugged his shoulders and took another sip. "I've been feeling great, thank you. Happily married, about to solve this annoying cult apocalypse thing. Life couldn't be better!" She responded in a tone that suggested other wise.

"Alright, I get it, you don't want to open up to me. I'm a little hurt but I understand." He told the slayer, though it was obvious he wasn't hurt at all. After an awkward silence in which Spike's drink magically refilled itself, he continued, "So, you went patrolling about a week ago, how was that?" He asked, his eyebrows raised.

She shrugged her shoulders, "How is patrolling ever? I killed a few vamps. End of story." She said without making any real eye contact.

"Really? That's it? You wake up in the middle of the night, go patrolling for the first time by yourself in well, years, and it's 'eh, okay I guess'?" Spiked asked, his face masked in disbelief.

"I mean, obviously there was a rush but that's because, hello, I am the slayer after all, it's part of my natural brain chemistry or what not." She added with a small roll of her eyes.

"Alright, I get it, you're freaked out about how 'right' killing those Vamps was since you did it in the 'wrong' way or whatever." Spike concluded and pulled a cigarette out of his shirt pocket.

"What do you mean?" Buffy asked, now a little confused.

"What I mean is," Spike began, "that the slayer was meant to be alone, fighting the creatures of the night. Killing those two Vampires on your own without the Initiative there to military it up must have been quite the rush.

"I guess." Buffy reluctantly agreed. "But it's all, endorphins and stuff. I mean, it's great and all for a few minutes - until I get killed. There's a reason I don't do it like that anymore - I have roots and I'm not going to throw them all away by getting killed because I went out on patrol alone." Buffy countered.

"I'm not saying that it's good that you went out alone, I just wanted you to admit that you liked it and that it felt right." Spike informed her.

"Just because something feels right doesn't necessarily mean it is so." Buffy replied without hesitancy. "So was that what all this was about? You're the manifestation of my inner slayer who doesn't like me doing things the modern way." At this, Spike spit up whatever amount of his drink was currently in his mouth and started laughing.

"Sorry love, but it's not that simple." And he continued sipping his pina colada and walked away, satsified that he'd proved whatever miniscule point he needed to prove.

Still annoyed, Buffy woke up and angrily answered her cell phone, "What?"

"Sorry to wake you Buffy but I need you to come over quick, I think we've finally found the answers we need." Giles responded somewhat cryptically. Buffy jumped out of bed and quickly got dressed, leaving a short note for Riley and hurrying out the door.

"It was very hard to find, mind you, and the people I got it from were very hesitant to hand it over." Buffy heard the voice of her former watcher as she rushed into Giles' home.

"Wesley, what are you doing here?" She asked upon sitting down at the kitchen table.

"Wesley here found what may very well be the key to this little apocalypse we are trying to avert." Giles explained. Buffy noticed Wesley appeared quite proud of himself. "After I encountered difficulty in finding any more thorough information on Nanaka and any who would follow him, I sent out a 'distress' call too all those who may be of use." Since being cast out of the Watchers Council, Wesley had been wandering throughout the world trying to 'find' himself. In the process, he had met with some interesting people some of whom must have led the way to this discovery.

"As I was saying, the fact that I found this is miraculous in and of itself. When I found the Kanan tribe in Australia, and I heard their tales of the demon and those who sought to raise him I instantly remembered your call. It took me a long while to convince them that no one would try to raise the demon so I repeat - if you lose this book, well, it would be bad." Wesley finished up, a look of utter seriousness imprinted on his face.

"Yes, yes, we understand, and again, thank you." Giles repeated reluctantly to his associate.

"Alright, we get it. Book contains evil stuff. Must be careful. Not lose book. So what's in it?" Buffy asked anxiously.

"It appears to be some sort of manifesto written a couple millenia ago by some followers of Nanaka. What I've read has been rather disturbing so far," he removed his glasses and mindlessly started cleaning them, "I figure we should wait for the others to arrive before I go into further detail." He suggested. "Where's Riley?"

"He was already out when I woke up. I left him a note - I figure I'll catch him up when I get home." She commented.

Giles looked slightly concerned, "But it's a Saturday, isn't it unusual for him to go into the Initiative on a Saturday unless something's up?"

Buffy looked unconcerned, "I figured he would've woken me up if it were serious, probably just someone or something that needed his expert guidance." She responded. A few minutes later, Willow and Xander came running through the door, equally anxious as to what mysteries had been unveiled.

"So, what's the what?" Xander asked as his usual bubbly self.

"As I just told Buffy, Wesley just brought over what appears to be the manifesto of the followers of Nanaka, or as they call themselves 'Nakanas'." He finished and looked around at the group.

"Couldn't they have come up with a more clever name?" Xander asked and in response got a couple glares and a short snort from Buffy.

Giles paused for a moment and then continued. "Though we have not read the book in its entirety from what we have translated it appears that these Nakanas are Vampires who believe themselves to be descendents of Nanaka himself." The group stared at him and then Buffy chuckled.

"Seriously? What, do they think that before leaving the Earth Nanaka bit a human and turned him?" Giles simply looked at her, letting her know that's exactly what they thought. "Oh."

"While there is no proof to the contrary, this is highly improbable especially considering Nanaka's clear disdain for Vampires. This is irrelevant however. These Nakanas wish to summon who they believe to be their 'father'. It appears as though this is done by opening some sort of inter dimensional portal on Naka's Day that will allow Nanaka to easily traverse here." Giles finished and paused to take in everyones reactions.

"Alright, so we just gotta go back to that house and kill all of those Vampires - easy as that." Buffy responded with a snap of her fingers.

"I'm afraid it might not be so simple. From what I've read so far, this group has some very powerful and old Vampires. And they are different from most groups you've faced - they are not brought together by some minor desire but by an actual belief. They are, for all intensive purposes, a cult." Giles told her.

"What do you suggest then?" She asked, her arms crossed.

"Well, you are right, we must destroy them but I believe we must thread carefully. We need to learn as much as possible about them and we should certainly work with Riley on this and get as much support as the Initiative can give us." Giles told her.

"Giles, have you been able to figure out when 'Naka's Day' is?" Willow began asking, "Cause I mean, planning and preparation is all well and good but we can't let them raise this demon."

"I'm with Willow on this one." Xander said, pointing to his best friend.

"Alright. I'm going to head over to the Initiative and talk to Riley and the Colonel. How about you guys continue reading that book and figure out what day doomsday is." Buffy concluded and stood up to head out. After a moment she had a thought, "Xander, could you let Spike know what we found out, as reluctant as I am to say this we might need his help and at least he'll be happy to know we didn't dismiss him." She asked him. Xander reluctantly agreed and Buffy headed out to make her way to the underground facility her husband practically ran.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

After arriving at the Initiative, Buffy immediately headed for Riley's office in hopes of finding him there. When she discovered the office was empty, she grew a little annoyed at the goose chase she was likely to embark on and was filled with relief when she literally ran in Graham on the way out.

"Graham! Lucky I ran into you - do you know where Riley is?" Buffy asked with a sense of urgency.

"Hey Buff, I think he's down at the rookie training facilities. What's up, is something wrong?" He responded nervously.

"No, well yes. But it's not that urgent. Thanks though, I should go find him." She responded and gave a small smile before walking away. Suddenly remembering his conversation with Angel the week before, Graham ran to catch up with Buffy.

"Actually, now that you're here, there's something I need to tell you." He told her as the two continued walking towards the training areas.

"What's up?" Buffy asked, a serious look on her face.

"Well, I asked Angel about that symbol, and he said it's used as part of a spell to render a Vampire magically invisible. He said it will make them immune to locator spells and make it more or less impossible for a demon to find them." He took in a look of understanding on Buffy's face. "The thing is, Angel said this spell hasn't actually been used successfully in all the time he's been around, he thinks it's more or less been lost and was a little worried when you showed it to him."

"Thanks Graham, that's really helpful. Answers a few questions." She mumbled under her breath. Graham merely nodded, recognizing she didn't want to go into any further details on the matter.

"Well, I've gotta go, good luck with whatever's going on!" Graham gave a friendly wave and started jogging the other way, apparently late for something. Buffy peered into the training facility and watched as her husband brought down two of the trainees. While she was proud, she was also a little worried about the way he wasn't holding back as was often done with trainees. Shaking away the worry, she headed inside to get his attention.

Upon seeing her face, Riley knew something was up and immediately headed out. The two awkwardly embraced and headed up to Riley's office. "So, what's going on? I haven't seen you here in a while." He commented while thinking to himself that she really hadn't been to the Initiative in a while.

"It looks like we've solved the mystery of Spike's apocalypse." She told him although she didn't look too happy about it. "This group of fanatical Vampires are going to try and raise Nanaka who as I told you before is not a nice demon. Giles suspects this group goes back quite a few years and hence we might be facing some serious Vamps in there. Therefore, this should probably be a joint operation."

Riley nodded in understanding. "What do you suggest?" He asked while grabbing a bottle of water out of his refrigerator.

"Well, I dunno if you and the Colonel will be cool with this, but Angel would be of a real asset on this. If we're dealing with old and powerful Vamps, he'd be the best weapon." She told him reluctantly.

"We've been doing patrols with him. I don't think it will be a problem." His answer was short, and Buffy left it at that.

"I don't have a solid plan, but once we find out more about their numbers and the possible date they can summon Nanaka the plan is to basically go in and destroy the place. Simple as that." Buffy said and snapped her fingers.

"That makes sense. What would you need from us?" He asked, taking a large chug of water and pouring some of it over himself.

"I figure one or two units to help us out. That plus Angel, Willow and I should be sufficient to do the job - we think. Xander is looking into the possibility of torching the place but Willow thinks there are likely to be magical defenses around." Buffy told him, realizing with what Graham told her that possibility was indeed high.

"I'll talk to the colonel but I don't think it will be a problem." He told her very clinically.

"Good." She smiled, relieved. "Well, I'm going to head back to Giles' and help with the research. You know, we never can do enough research." She gave him a quick kiss and headed out of the Initiative and into the sunny Saturday afternoon.

* * *

As Buffy drove back to Giles' house, she took in the bright Spring day and reveled in the sun seeping through her car. She felt a sense of ease overcome her as she rolled down the window and enjoyed a simple car ride.

"You always so...whimsical when you're driving?" Spike asked her, suddenly appearing in the passenger seat of her car. After immediately slamming on the brakes Buffy turned to the Vampire and noticed the beam of sun hitting him square in the chest.

"You're not real." Buffy commented, still disconcerted.

"Obviously I'm not or I'd be dead." He responded with a look that screamed 'duh'. Getting over the initial shock of seeing Spike in her car and then the realization that it was a hallucination, she now realized he was wearing a Hawaiian shirt, a pair of khakis and an oddly chic pair of sunglasses.

"You look - interesting." She told him with a snicker.

"Yeah well, we were last in Hawaii don't forget, now I just feel bloody uncomfortable. I don't like being in the land of the conscious - gives you a distinct advantage." He informed her looking as uncomfortable as he described.

"So then all knowing figment of my imagination," she began while continuing her drive to Giles' house, "why have I gone crazy?"

"You haven't gone crazy." Spike responded. Buffy pointed to him and mumbled something about 'not being real' and Spike continued, "See, crazy people don't actually think they've gone crazy. Hence, you're not crazy." Buffy still looked unconvinced. "Alright, I'll give you a hint. You're going crazy. Not in a clinical way in a, I don't know, emotional kind of way. So I'm in some way your minds way of going through that?" He told her.

Buffy's face was both skeptical and confused. "So right now I'm having a conversation with the other half of myself who chooses to manifest itself as an impotent Vampire?" She raised her right eyebrow a little bit to reinforce the point.

"So you have a better explanation, Slayer?" He asked. She shrugged her shoulders and conceited of all the options available, it was the most logical. "Well, while that was nice, I'm just here to tell you something."

"Aw, what, no therapy today? But how will I ever go on." Buffy responded, pouting her lips.

"Ha ha very funny. I'm here to tell you, you don't have a choice." Spike said in a rather serious and cryptic manner.

"What don't I have a choice in?" She asked, still annoyed but now vaguely interested.

"This battle that's raging inside of you, the one you've been denying exists. You don't have a choice. You can't choose between the dark and the light and you know it." Spike told her.

"See - this is annoying. I feel we talk, I develop this slight insight as to why you're here, plaguing my dreams and now my pleasant and whimsical car rides and then you say something I don't get at all!" She responded, grasping the steering wheel harder in anger.

"You know, I told you once you had to wake up. Stop repressing it! Stop trying to choose! You can't!" He told her and then looked up to see Giles' home, "Well, this is my stop, ill see you in your dreams, pet." And the next moment he was suddenly gone, leaving an angry and confused Buffy walking up to her watchers' home.

"Giles!" Buffy called out after barging in through the door. Giles merely looked up and mumbled some sort of greeting before reburying himself in the book. She looked around and noticed only Giles and Wesley were there. "Where are the others?"

"Xander said he had to stop by the construction site," Wesley responded, "and Willow's consulting with Tara to try and get a more detailed description of this Naka's Day and the Nakanas." He explained and then went back to translating the words in front of him.

Buffy walked to the kitchen and grabbed a diet coke while she waited for Giles to become aware of her presence and give her something to do. Truth be told, she wasn't a big fan of research but seeing as it was light out and there wasn't much else to do, it would at least make her feel semi useful.

"Alright this might be good." Giles mumbled causing both Wesley and Buffy to look at him intently. "It says here that there were 8 founding members of the Nakanas back in the 4th century. However, it appears that most of them have died." He finished.

"How does that help? We know the cult is still out there, obviously they haven't all died." Buffy stated obviously.

"Well, if I'm translating this properly, then we can assume that there will be only eight members of the cult, meaning with the proper preparation a simple raid on the house will be sufficient to stop them." He told them, a glimmer of hope in his eye, "However, if even one of the original eight is still living, he will be extremely difficult to kill. So caution is most certainly advised. This should not be mistaken for a simple nest."

"Okay okay. When do you suggest we do this? I was thinking, tomorrow night?" Buffy suggested, anxious to put down this apocalypse.

Giles looked as though he was about to object and then spoke, "Since we still haven't been able to discover the specific date for Naka's Day, you are probably right to want to do this as soon as possible. You've talked to Riley?" Giles asked.

"Yup. He's on board and Angel's going to assist." Buffy said in a blasé tone.

"Good. Make sure to talk to Willow - see what she can do to help. If everyone is okay with going in tomorrow night, so be it." Giles told her, with a hint of weariness.

* * *

"On that note, I'm going to start making preparations, we got some Vamps to kill!" Buffy said with a little too much excitement in her voice and then headed out to start planning.

The next 24 hours went by in a blur as Buffy spent the day at the Initiative consulting with Riley and Graham as she planned the raid on the cult. Sometime in the morning sleep had caught up with her and Riley gently placed her in a small cot so she could finally rest.

"Slayer!" Spike taunted her. She found herself in a dark graveyard with a stake in hand and Spike, in game face on the attack. After a brief note of her surroundings and the realization that this was a dream, she put the stake down and gave Spike a weary glare.

"I am getting sooo sick of this." She stated with a pout.

"I couldn't resist. So, you ready for the big op? Ready to dust the big bad Vampires?" Spike asked with feigned excitement.

"You know me, always ready to slay." Buffy said in a mocking tone.

"Ready to fight side by side you know who?" Spike asked her.

Buffy rolled her eyes, "It'll be fine. Whoever - whatever you are be it some small ounce of my subconscious can you just go away for a while?"

"If you wish." Spike responded easily, "But I bet one day, you'll miss our little chats." He told her in an ominous tone. Spike disappeared and the dream faded, leaving Buffy a series of other more normal dreams before she woke up in the early afternoon.

The rest of the day was spent with her giving pep talks to the soldiers who would be her back up, and if the plan went perfectly, not be necessary. About an hour before sunset, Willow, Xander and Giles arrived to lend their support. She explained the plan to her closest friends. Willow objected to not being a part of the initial offensive but Buffy explained that if anything went wrong Willow and her power was the best chance of stopping them.

So as the sun set, Alpha and Beta teams as well as the Scooby gang plus Angel piled into a large truck headed for the cult of Vampires. Each of the teams had been briefed at least once by Buffy, Riley, and Graham and were hence extremely aware of what the situation might entail. Angel sat in the back of the bus, across from Graham. He was looking incredibly thoughtful and appeared to be meditating.

"You mentally preparing yourself for this?" Graham asked. When he told Angel they needed his help Angel didn't hesitate but now he appeared to be having his doubts. Graham suspected it might have something to do with Buffy's involvement but chose not to speculate much farther.

"I'm just trying to pick up on something - anything. And there's nothing. I've just got a bad feeling." Is all he said. Suddenly, the truck stopped and the group went entirely silent as they continued the trek to what was being dubbed the 'haunted house'. Via text communicators, Buffy relayed to the group to commence phase 1.

As the Initiative teams created a perimeter, the Scooby gang did everything they could to get some sort of reading of the place. Both and Angel and Graham were unsurprised that they were unable to do so when they saw the symbol and merely glanced at Buffy as though she should have said something. She merely shrugged and beckoned Angel to continue on.

Phase one of the plan was simple. Buffy and Angel go in, take on as many Vamps as possible, lead the rest out, and then everyone can have fun dusting Vamps. Buffy thought it was quite elegant in its simplicity. But of course, this was a hellmouth and rarely if ever did things actually go as planned.

As quietly as possible, Buffy and Angel broke down the front door and were alarmed to find 2 Vampires already on them. After recovering from the shock of such a welcome, the pair easily dusted what appeared to be two relatively recently turned Vampires. Using hand signals, Buffy and Angel began to traverse the first floor. In a dark and obviously unused living room, they saw about four Vampires in what appeared to be meditation. The pair were about to take the four on by surprise when they felt the presence of numerous Vampires behind them.

Buffy immediately turned and started fighting the Vampire directly behind her. She looked to her left and saw Angel having difficulty fighting off two Vampires who felt a bit older to her. Looking around, she counted at least ten Vampires, meaning the concept of their being only eight was merely fiction.

At this point in the plan, Buffy knew it was time to run so with a meaningul glance at Angel, the two threw the Vampires off them and started for the door. Realizing more Vampires were coming down the stairs and the likelihood of survival lessoned, she belted into her watchitalkie "There are more than 8. At least 30. We can't get ou-" And before she was able to fight back she was knocked unconscious.

* * *

**A/N:** Okay. I know it's been a while and I'm deeply sorry for that. Additionally, despite my lack of response I _do_ read the comments and completely understand you pain. While this chapter was awkward at best, it provided a necessary transition and it should be smooth sailing from here on out.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

"Buffy? BUFFY?" Riley panicked, hitting his watchitalkie hoping it was simply a technical glitch. He started for Giles, "Did you hear that? At least thirty! What's going on?" Giles and Willow were looking extremely distressed and Xander was having a deep talk with Graham. While the Initiative soldiers maintained decorum it was obvious in their small movements that they were panicking. Hardly any of them had seen anything beyond simple patrol and almost none of them had ever seen the slayer in any real trouble.

"Alright. Alright. Calm down everyone." Xander said, pulling the Scoobies along with Riley and Graham aside. His face was covered with fear but he nevertheless tried to bring order, "Buffy is Buffy and she didn't survive this long by getting killed. Now, I'm going with the assumption that she and Angel need our assistance so how about we get our acts together and figure out what we can do to help them?" Xander began. Giles and Willow nodded in agreement and immediately began to calm down while Riley stopped yelling and starting pacing in an attempt to relax.

"Good. Graham?" Graham perked up hearing his name. "I need you to go to Spike's crypt and get him. He might ask for money but just - get him to come out, tell him there are some really annoying and stupid Vampires - it will help." Graham nodded and started running off. "Alright now Riley? Why don't you start coming up with a plan to get our girl back. And Willow? Figure out what you can do to help." Xander finished and watched as the group slowly went to work.

"What about us, Xander?" Giles asked, a little lost.

"We're going to go back and help Wesley try and find anything in that book that is helpful. The last thing we need is to get in anyone's way." Xander explained. Though Giles didn't want to leave while Buffy's status was still unknown, he knew it was the right thing to do and thus followed Xander away from the house.

* * *

Inside the house, an old and remarkably ugly Vampire looked at Buffy and Angel with a smile. "These are excellent specimen!" He said and motioned his arm to another room. Barely conscious now, Buffy and Angel fought to no avail as they were tossed into a 5 square foot cell surrounded in concrete. Looking at all the Vampires, Buffy had a startling realization that the reason so many people went missing around this cult wasn't because they were killed but because they were turned.

After having conveniently and according to them at least unintentionally avoided any genuine contact with one another for the past few weeks, Buffy and Angel found themselves alone. The silence was practically deafening as the two gained their strength and took in their situation. Here they were, each curled up in a separate corner of the tiny cell, and yet neither could find the appropriate words to say to the other.

"So way to get us captured." Buffy finally let out. Her mind was everywhere at the moment. On one hand, she was worried sick about Riley and on the other she couldn't handle being this close to Angel. Oh, and of course she wasn't all that thrilled about the likelihood of being turned into a Vampire.

"This isn't my fault," Angel replied defensively, "maybe if instead of just picking me up and saying, 'Angel, we could use some muscle' and actually letting me in on what was going on, I could have helped formulate a better plan!" He exclaimed, inching towards her for emphasis.

"Oh! Of course," Buffy replied in an overly dramatic tone, "if you had planned this little op everything would have gone perfectly. Because you're so used to working with others. "

"Alright, so maybe I couldn't have planned this better but how is this my fault?" Angel asked, more and more anger seeping through every word.

"Because everything was going great! I was happy, for so long I was happy and then you come into town right on the eve of an apocalypse and here we are, the two of us, and I don't know what to think or what to feel!" Buffy let out as fast as humanly possible, regretting it immediately after. She felt wave after wave of emotion hit, as she looked at her former love and realized just how much her life had been turned upside down since he inadvertently reentered her life.

It started off as just dreams. The dreams she could handle - she was perfectly capable of rationalizing her subconscious with her reality. But then it was more, as some unknown force was pulling her away from her life. At night was when it was worst - she could physically feel the emotions of her youth just screaming to get out. A longing for something she couldn't quite wrap her finger around yet needed it like she needed oxygen.

Soon, she was ignoring Riley. Not blatantly of course they still did things like eat together but slowly they sparred less, talked less, and Buffy came to the Initiative less and less. "My God." Buffy asked, her voice becoming a slight cackle, "what is wrong with me?" Angel just stared at her confused as she had her epiphany. She thought she was just scared because she had been married. She remembered Giles and Willow looking at her, worried. Never for one minute did she think this had anything to do with Angel.

Here, in this little cell, likely minutes before she would die, she realized the horrifying truth she had been keeping from herself for weeks, years really if she would be honest. She was in love with Angel and however much she repressed it, that part of her still existed. And in that moment of realization, she hated herself with every fiber of her being. Because while she knew she loved Angel, she also loved Riley and it was Riley she wanted. Riley, Riley she kept telling herself to try and make the feelings go away.

She started laughing again, and now Angel was getting really worried, not being privvy to what was going on in her head. "You knew all along didn't you?" She asked him.

"Knew what?" He asked, his eyes ablaze with concern - all hints of the anger from before gone.

"That I'm in love with you." She said softly, a few tears escaping her ducts. He looked at her, his eyes growing wide from the confession and she saw in his eyes that same love mirrored back.

"I think you knew it too." He told her in barely a whisper, holding onto her right hand. Buffy pulled her hand back, giving Angel a disgusted look.

"I'm in love and happily married." She told him, standing up as much as possible in the tiny cell and pointing to her wedding ring. "And here you are all, in my prison cell, forcing these ridiculous adolescent emotions on me, holding my hand trying to comfort me? I hate you! Why did you let the Initiative catch you? Why didn't you just let them kill you?" She asked, now on the verge of breaking down into full blown hysterics.

Angel wasn't sure what to feel. He knew he should feel hurt, but he could hear the undertone of Buffy's rant. Without really thinking, just trying to make sense of it all he stood up, his shoulders and head slouched to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling and put his right hand on Buffy's cheek.

"Because I couldn't die without doing this." He told her and then his mouth was upon hers. The kiss wasn't soft like Buffy expected upon seeing his intentions but passionate and fierce. Without thinking, Buffy responded with the same passion, letting out some primal force that had been building up inside her for years.

Years of denial and repression came undone as Buffy gave into the temptation. In that moment, Buffy wasn't married, she wasn't some detective, she was the Slayer and he was the love her life. It didn't matter that they were meant to kill the other or that they were likely to die at the hands of an insane Vampire cult in a matter of minutes. They had each other, and in that moment, she felt a freedom she had previously been unaware she longed for.

It was Buffy whose brain, incapable of distracting her any other way, reminded her of the gypsy curse. She felt her body pause and she licked her lips, stepping back and now looking into his eyes. Pain and love, the two emotions that inevitably seemed to come hand in hand marked them both. Buffy was the first to break the stare and went back to her corner of the cell to sit and feel guilty for what was likely the last few minutes of her life. Angel, unable to move, looked longingly at the woman he loved for so long and was always just out of grasp and wondered why fate would create such a doomed love.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Outside of the house, Riley was forming the beginnings of a plan when he heard an annoying voice come from behind him. "So, you guys are gonna need my help after all?" Spike said as he approached Riley.

"Yes Spike." Despite his anger, Riley knew the stakes and that if he was going to successfully rescue Buffy, Spike on his side was his best bet.

"Where's the Slayer?" Spike asked, looking around.

"She and Angel got captured." Spike's face flashed to surprise for a moment and then went back to calm.

"Well, I'm not surprised. What's the plan?"

Riley and the rest of Alpha team stood behind Spike and prepared to enter the house. Dead silent, he gave the hand signal and Graham and his team set off an explosion in the far side of the house. Using a hand held device, Riley confirmed Buffy's location and directed his team to move on into the house.

While the explosion acted as a decent distraction, there were still a fair number of Vampires waiting for them at the front door. Spike's face formed a huge smile as he began fighting them two at a time. The two men at Riley's sides were each taking down Vampires farther away using their crossbows as Riley tore through the house searching for Buffy.

The group continued on until Riley led them to the basement, at which point only Riley and Spike continued down. It was eerily quiet as they walked past door after door until they reached the one Riley's handheld indicated held Buffy. After a simple hand gesture of Riley's, Spike kicked down the door and rushed in to find a very exhausted looking Slayer and Vampire.

Buffy looked up, frightened by all the noise and commotion but relief immediatly flowed through her as she realized Riley had come for her. She stood up and paused for only a moment before running up to Riley and holding him as close as humanly possible. She closed her eyes and inhaled his scent, relieved to know she wasn't going to die. Upon opening her eyes, her gaze drifted to Angel who was trying as hard as he could not to watch her. Their eyes met and the two shared a moment of love and hurt, until unable to take it any longer Buffy closed her eyes and clung to Riley for dear life.

"This is a really touching reunion and all but I'd really like to get out of creepy Vampire cult central." Spike informed the group who, despite the speaker, agreed and the four headed out as quickly as possible.

Upon leaving the house, Riley turned and saw Graham's team struggling to keep the Vampires away. While the initial explosion had been a successful diversion its effects were negligible as the house had some sort of mystical protection. Now, most of his men were engaged in hand to hand and felt relief when they heard Riley's call for retreat. The group quickly loaded onto the bus and sped back to the Initiative, leaving the cult behind.

The silence at Giles' was deafening as Buffy walked in and took a seat at the kitchen. Willow kept opening her mouth, as if to say something but no words came out. The group stared at one another, disappointment in each of their eyes. Finally, after an awkward and obviously feigned cough, Wesley spoke up. "So I think we have some more details on Naka's Day." He nervously told the group.

The Scoobies perked up, remembering suddenly why they skipped showers to debrief. The group looked intently at Wesley who took a moment and continued, "Well, if I've done the calculations correctly, Naka's Day is a week from Tuesday - which is a week and two days from today, well a week and one day if you consider it's already past midnight." The group fell silent once again, taking in they wouldn't have much of a break until they would be forced to once again go on the offensive.

The silence was interrupted by a hearty laugh coming from Buffy. "Next Tuesday? Really? Why is it always on a Tuesday? And why is it that we always get prophecies or apocalypses or whatever translated just days before they occur?" The group all nodded their heads appreciating the irony but looked back to Wesley suggesting he should continue.

"Yes...that is very strange Buffy. Perhaps if we survive this mess we can look it up." He told her wearily. "Now then. It appears the act of summoning Nanaka isn't as challenging as it is time consuming. It involves opening up an inter dimensional portal and more or less teleporting the demon in. Now here's where it gets interesting - the portal and the area surrounding it cannot be tarnished by death so on Naka's day, the safest place to be is close to that portal." Wesley mused.

"Wait. If the portal cannot be tarnished by death how can a Vampire perform the ritual. They are dead, after all?" Xander pointed out in one of his rare moments of insight.

"I too wondered that. It is the actual moment of death, apparently something happens in that moment that prevents Nanaka from transporting here for another 2000 years. I guess something went wrong last time this was tried." Wesley added to some increased looks of interest. "Did I not mention this before? This same cult has tried to resurrect Nanaka at least twice before. The first time failed because some wiser demons stopped them and the other because one of the Vampires accidentally killed some human who was overly curious."

"Good to know if all else fails one of us can off ourselves." Buffy said grimly to the group. The group remained quiet, many of them succumbing to the exhaustion of such an eventful evening. "Well I know there's still a lot to discuss like how we're going to stop the world from ending but I think we could all use a good night sleep." She told the group before standing up. Riley followed her and the two headed up.

Riley had barely spoken two words to Buffy since rescuing her from the cult. She was putting on a brave face, acting like it was no big deal and while she hadn't suffered any physical damage he imagined she felt weak for getting captured. Her eyes appeared distant and unsure, he assumed she was tired and disappointed at their failure. He grabbed her hand as they walked the few blocks to their house in silence.

* * *

Angel awoke the next day and for a moment thought the events of the night before had been merely a dream. It wasn't until he saw Graham at the mess hall looking rather melancholy that he realized that their attempt to eliminate the Vampire cult had in fact really happened. Which also meant that he and Buffy had been captured and kissed.

After grabbing his blood, Angel sat at a table across from Graham while trying to avoid looking at him. Shame, guilt, and fear were all plaguing him but so was something else - relief. And it was this emotion that bothered him most of all and arguably caused him the most pain.

"Angel, don't feel bad it wasn't your fault." Graham broke the ice trying to get the attention of his Vampire friend. For a moment Angel wanted to ask Graham how he knew what he did but then he realized Graham was referring to the mission's failure.

"I know it's just - rough to feel weak and insufficient - you know?" Angel responded. Graham simply nodded and continued poking at his eggs. "So what's going to happen? I mean, this isn't over." Angel asked, realizing instantly the double meaning behind his question.

"Riley, Buffy and Giles are all coming in today for some strategizing. I guess they found out something more last night so hopefully they'll have a better plan and we can put these guys out once and for all." Graham informed him. Angel grunted in agreement and drank the rest of his blood before getting up to leave. "Is there something else bothering you, you seem more abrupt than usual today? Even considering last night." Graham asked.

"Nah, I'm just thinking too much." Angel responded with a forced grin. It was all chemicals, he told himself. Pheremones. Hormones. His pull to her was illogical. Chemicals. He closed his eyes and told himself. After being apart from her for so long, the rush, the adrenaline, endorphins all of that had hit him hard. But it wasn't real he kept telling himself - it was too irrational to be real.

His decision to leave had been logical in every way. Everything about them was incompatible. She was the slayer and he was a Vampire. The hunter and the hunted. But it was more than that - she had yet to truly live for herself, to really be a human girl. And the curse and its loophole merely added insult to injury. About a month after he left, he asked himself why it took him so long to do so. That laundry list of reasons for why they couldn't be together made it remarkable that he stayed as long as he did.

Chemistry. He reminded himself - those pesky things that run around telling your body how to feel and how to act. They play tricks on the head. Chemistry. He had to repeat again. For there was no bright future between him and Buffy, regardless of what every fiber of his being yearned. He knew it was cruel, a love that could never be and he wondered if there was some higher power laughing at him and his misery. Maybe, he thought, this was part of his punishment for his years as Angeles. Perhaps if he could deny his soul the thing it most wanted he could find the redemption he sought.

Stuck in his brain, he barely noticed he had walked into a small training room and begun taking out his frustration on a punching bag. A few younger recruits looked at the Vampire with a little bit of fear - having never seen him so focused or determined on causing damage. Punch, Kick, Kick, Punch. Over and over, it never ended.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

Buffy woke up on Monday morning oddly peaceful. After the events of the previous day and dream Spike's increased presence, she expected another therapy session but found her dreams to be what they're supposed to be - unmemorable. That feeling of peace, however ended upon seeing the sleeping figure of her husband beside her and again she felt the guilt.

Apart of her wanted to tell him - to cry it out and apologize for all it was worth. But she couldn't. She had done the one thing he feared most - taken comfort in her former lover. Of course, he would have understood and held her as she cried but it wouldn't be right and Buffy knew it. She knew telling him would perhaps alleviate her own guilt but only serve to cause him more pain.

Time. She figured time would make this whole mess go away. In a week, this nightmare would all be over one way or another and if they survived she could just ask Angel to help out the Initiative at one of their other locations. She remembered a time when she thought she could have never loved again when Angel wholly consumed her thoughts so she knew that _time_ would let this indiscretion go away.

But in the back of her mind she realized the problem was more than simply a passionate kiss but the feelings behind it. As hard as she tried she couldn't repress it all - again. The love, the emotion - all of it irrational and forbidden. She hated herself, she hated Angel, and she hated whoever or whatever made love so complex.

For the next few minutes, she let herself feel the simple emotion of guilt and watched Riley sleep peacefully. Getting the deep and messy thoughts out of her system, at least for the time being, she woke up her husband and the two prepared for what was to be a long day.

* * *

"Why haven't they taken the offensive?" Buffy asked on Wednesday night as she and Xander did recon of the area surrounding the haunted house. "I mean, they must have some idea who we are, aren't they worried we're going to get in their way or something?"

"I dunno. Maybe they don't think we're that much of a threat?" Xander suggested to which Buffy sighed heavily. After their failure, it was decided to try and find some weakness whether it be the house, a time of day, or anything. Unfortunately, so far the best idea was to find a way to interrupt the summoning ceremony but that was still dangerous and risky.

The problem was these weren't ordinary Vampires and that really bugged Buffy. Most Vampires live in a crypt underground that would make it easy for Buffy to go down and kill them all. These guys lived in a house fortified by magic that neither Willow nor Tara had found a way to breach hence explosives or other elaborate plans would be ineffective.

"I still think a nuke would work." Buffy suggested for about the fifth time. At this point, her friends weren't even sure whether she was joking.

"Maybe it would. But then the rest of Sunnydale would also die and that would be bad." Xander pointed out to her again. Buffy rolled her eyes and brought the binoculars back up to her face to continue the watch.

The week to date had been hard for Buffy. She spent so much time trying to act normal that she often forgot to be normal, however impossible that sounds. She found herself smiling so much people thought she was drunk or moping too much and being constantly asked if she was okay. After spending the entire day at the Initiative with Riley on Monday talking about the Vampire cult and their failed attack she could barely breathe or concentrate and found relief when she got to ground level and it was night.

Both Monday and Tuesday night she went on patrol. As an excuse, she said she was worried about the cult and their feeding habits but really it was the only time her mind would pause and the world would become a simpler place. However the problem with all the patrolling was that her body wasn't used to getting so little sleep. Charlie was the first to notice. 'Kid. You need to sleep more. Did you solve the cult problem?...Oh. Good luck with that.'

"Xander, you can stay here and watch...nothing. I'm going to do a sweep of the parks and cemeteries. Give me a call if you need anything." Buffy told her friend who gave her a small salute as she took off. More than her fear of being incompetent or her unsettling and guilty feelings about Angel, Buffy found herself concerned by a lack of Spike haunting her. As she marched through the cemeteries, she kept expecting the hallucination to appear out of no where, drinking something nasty and asking her pointed questions. The fact was, her dreams were not haunted and she had to ask why being that she was now more confused than ever.

"Spike, where are you?" She found herself asking and then berated herself for it. The last thing she needed was to deal with the actual Spike while on patrol. "I'm going crazy now, aren't I?" She mumbled to herself before leaning against a gravestone and taking a deep breath. She stopped and took a moment to appreciate the silence and the fresh air. The only noise the sounds of nature and the soft rustling of the wind. She closed her eyes, soaking in the darkness as if she absorbed enough it would stay with her throughout the day.

She soon found herself stopped, for the first time in days she was truly stopped. All thinking, all doing and she took a moment to cry. They weren't tears of sadness or happiness or even fear but more of relief. She sat in that meditative state for was felt like hours until the drops of rain came down and hit her face. She looked up at the now cloud filled sky and smiled as the rain started coming down, harder and harder.

In those moments in the graveyard she stood up, inhaling the smells of nature and the beauty of it all. She was flooded with memories, of times she chose to forget. Feelings like these in the past where she felt was peace and welcome. The knowledge that she belonged, that she had a purpose. The night brought her gifts and the day made her forget them.

Happiness. Pain. Where did one start and the other begin? She remembered her life with Angel as a series of painful experiences - a tortured love incapable of peace. But was this true? Here in the darkness, as her mind cleared she knew it was only through the pain and hardships they faced were they able to find that happiness. That the bliss and passion they felt together wasn't achieved through civility or domesticity but through mutual suffering.

And instead of feeling despair at this realization she felt at peace. Buffy realized why Spike no longer haunted her and why her life had inexplicably changed since Angel had entered into her life. While her life may have moved into the sunlight, a part of her remained in the dark, unseen and unheard of for eight years since Angel walked out of her life. And that part of her, however dormant it may appear to be would not be complacent forever.

Without conclusion and without knowing what she would do, Buffy walked the long way home. Though the next step wasn't obvious and was certainly not going to be easy she now understood herself in a way she never thought possible. And in that was a peace she never knew she could have.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Another attempted raid failed on Saturday though not as miserably as the first. In an attempt to distract the Vampires, Graham detonated explosives around one side of the house in a similar fashion they had done before. Only this time, Willow enchanted them a bit allowing them to cause more damage than the last.

Aware that their house was once again on fire the Vampire set about fixing it, a few uttering chants while others threw water. Riley's team as well as Buffy and Angel went into the house and started taking out Vampires. Unfortunately, the Vampires taking care of the fire were quicker than expected and before long the team was forced to hold back as close to 50 Vampires came upon them.

"50 Vampires, there had to be 50! I've never seen so many at one place!" Buffy exclaimed quite thrown by the event.

"Well, you did suggest before that they would turn those who hunted them, this merely goes to prove that hypothesis." Giles pointed out.

"But 50! I mean, 4 Vampires can barely get along let along 10 but 50, living in that moderately large house and," she paused for emphasis, "keep in mind the body count hasn't been all that high in Sunnydale so these have got to be some hungry Vamps."

"I imagine it's very different for them." Giles began, "Whereas most Vampires band together for the sake of safety or common goals, these Vampires are united by belief and that can be quite a strong motivation. Also, given there is likely some extremely old Vampires in there it would create a hierarchy that would be easy enough for the rest of follow."

"Yeah but, 50." Buffy mumbled.

"I know."

"And it seems like they're cheating, you know? Because they have magical wards and they're house is like some fortress or something so when we go in there - bad for us good for them. And then they make us feel insignificant by not even going after us!" Buffy exhaled angrily. One of their plans had been to wait for someone from the cult to go after them and to lure him into a trap and get information. Unfortunately given that the cult viewed Buffy and the gang as a mere inconvenience no one came after them hence no one to capture.

Riley chuckled a bit at his wife's exclamation, feeling about the same. In the last few days, he noticed Buffy started joking more and seemed more or less at ease. While relieved, he was a little annoyed by her insistence on patrolling every night and found himself worried and tempted to call for a patrol to follow her. But he knew that Buffy could handle herself and she wouldn't be happy to find a patrol guarding her.

He found himself reluctantly looking to Angel who, he had to admit, had helped more than his share. In fact, Riley suspected were it not for Angel, not all of his men would have made it out of there alive. He was about to thank him when he noticed Angel's eyes staring at Buffy. Riley watched for a moment and recognized something of torture and pain in the man's eyes and then noticed Angel make a move to look away. Riley then looked at Buffy who was trying discreetly to look at Angel, a look of realization in her eyes. Riley stood in between the two, yet felt he was miles away.

The moment was broken by Buffy squeezing his hand and pulling him away, telling him she was ready to go home and try again tomorrow.

* * *

No one slept on Monday night, not intentionally at least. As of three in the morning, Giles' was napping on the table while Buffy brewed a fresh batch of coffee in the Initiative's kitchen. The Scooby gang sat around hoping to find some way to defeat the cult.

It had gotten to the point where a nuke was being considered as a viable option. The army had worked up a contingency plan that involved evacuating as much of the area as possible. The problem was, Willow still wasn't sure if a nuke would be powerful enough given the strength of the wards.

After pouring herself a cup of coffee, Buffy sat down next to Xander and continued reading out of some old book. She was in the middle of some chapter about demon summoning when her eyelids grew heavy and she fell asleep.

She was back in that field where she first met Spike only it was night time. She suddenly realized she was surrounded by numerous Vampires in black robes chanting something, each holding a candle. Wandering throughout the circle, she tried to get someone's attention to figure out what was going on when a blinding bright light appeared out of nowhere.

_Jump through it_. Some voice in her head was telling her. She kept telling it to go away, that there was no logical reason to jump through this bright light. It was too late to do anything though as she saw the demon rise and tower the rest of the Vampires and with the flick of his wrist turned five to dust. Buffy backed up, scared out of her wits as she watched the demon look at her curiously and squash her like a bug.

"Buffy? Buffy? What is it?" Willow asked. Buffy looked at her friend and took a moment to realize it had just been a dream.

"We need to go to the haunted house. Now."

As Buffy had suspected, the house was empty, though no one knew how or when they left seeing as a patrol had been watching the house at all hours day and night. Frustrated and realizing given the incoming dawn they had little time, Buffy set about finding the field in her dream. With her friends on her tail, she ran through Sunnydale seeking something she wasn't even sure existed. She kept on wandering until it dawned on her. "Spike!" She yelled out loud to a look of utter confusion on her friends and colleagues faces.

Without explanation, she turned around and sprinted to Spike's crypt and without hesitation, busted in the door. "Slayer, what the hell are you doing here?" He asked, a mixture of irritation and confusion written on his face.

"Spike, do you know of any open meadows in Sunnydale, it would have a lot of natural flowers and no graves?" She asked the Vampire, a desperate look on her face.

"Yeah, there's one. Kinda hard to find though." He responded with a sound of indifference.

"I need you to take me there. It's important."

"Look kid, I'd love to help, but it's already past four, the sun will rise soon, I don't feel like becoming dust." Spike responded casually. Buffy, at wits end, grabbed him by the neck and pushed him up against a wall.

"I'm not asking." She told him.

"Fine." He responded and gave her a disgusted look before heading out.

"Buffy, what's going on?" Riley asked her. He, Willow, Giles and Xander had been following her around Sunnydale for the last 30 minutes attempting to find - well, they weren't really sure.

"I had a dream and after their house was empty I knew they had already started performing the summoning." She responded irritably.

"I kind of got all of that. But why would Spike know and how did you know he'd know?" Riley asked.

"It's complicated. Look, do me a favor and get some back up here - this is gonna be it." She informed him and ran up to make sure Spike didn't get away. Shortly after, Angel, Graham and the rest of Alpha and Gamma team caught up with the Scoobies and prepared for what would likely be the final confrontation with the cult. Both Angel and Spike kept peering at their watches, nervous about the impending sunrise.

Spike suddenly stopped. "It's just past those trees there." He told them and stood back. Buffy motioned for everyone to be silent and crept towards the trees and for the second time saw the many Vampires in black robes chanting in a circle. Only this time she was on the outside. She was in the process of beginning a full on attack when the portal appeared.

"It's too late." She said. But as the words came out and she continued to stare at the slowly expanding portal those same voices entered her head. And for a moment, she saw something that resembled clarity.

"It's not too late Buffy, we can still take them down." Angel told her. His face became confused as he saw the look of peace and determination painted on Buffy.

"It's too late" She repeated, looking at both Angel and Riley whose faces went from confusion to realization.

"You're not thinking of jumping through that thing?" Riley asked her, fear in his eyes.

"I have to. Only death can stop this thing now" She told him.

"But you don't even know -" Angel was caught off.

"I know it will work." She said and looked back as the portal grew from half a foot to a foot in diameter. "Riley," she began, "I'm sorry to do this to you. I just, I need you to know that I love you - with all my heart. And that I wanted to live in the light with you, more than anything." At this point, she was tearing up, "But unfortunately as much as I tried to fight it, as hard as I wanted to be normal I'm the slayer and a part of me is stuck in the dark." She looked to Angel, leaving Riley to stand there lost in his own thoughts

"You were wrong all those years ago. When you left. You wanted to give me a normal life but what you didn't realize was that the times I felt most alive was in the darkness. The pain and everything we went through - it wasn't in vain. It made everything clearer, brighter, more meaningful." Buffy told him, willing the words to come out. "As much as I hate it, as much as I wish life could be easy and peaceful I know that true happiness doesn't come that easily for me. Because I am the Slayer, and though I've neglected the darkness for years, attempted living a normal life, my calling cannot escape me. Even if it means I have to die.

"Angel - please do just one thing for me. Live. I know it's your instinct to be alone or to run. But you have to let yourself have a life - its the only true path to redemption." She looked at her two loves meaningfully and then turned to see the portal, now reaching the size it had in her dream. "I love you." She said to neither of them and then ran into the portal. A bolt of lightening struck down and the portal vanished leaving the Vampires annoyed and the humans baffled. Angel and Riley just stared in awe, unsure of what do or say.

* * *

**A/N:** No, it's not over. Almost though!


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

"Buffy! Buffy! You better get up it's time for school!" Buffy awoke startled to the sound of her mother yelling at her from the kitchen. She took a moment to take in her surroundings. The last thing she remembered was jumping through that portal yet her she was, safe and sound in bed.

Then it hit her - this wasn't her bed, this was the bed she used in high school, and she suddenly realized something was very wrong. She jumped out of bed and started listing off what might have happened, from this being some hell dimension to traveling through time or some variation of the two.

"Buffy! What are you doing?" Her mother walked into her room to find her startled daughter. "It's almost 8:30! You've gotta get moving!" Buffy nodded and headed to her closet to find something to wear. Giles! She remembered. A plan started in her head - get to school and talk to Giles and figure out what the hell was going on.

Upon getting to school, Buffy found herself surrounded by talk of the prom. She suddenly felt a sense of deja vu as she looked at the various posters and flyers posted around campus. Afraid of running into someone she knew, she rushed to the library only once she got there found herself at a loss of what to say.

"Buffy, is something the matter?" Giles asked her upon seeing her face of utter confusion.

"This is gonna be strange but can you tell me today's date?" Buffy asked her water.

"May 8th." He told her.

"What about the year?" She asked. He looked at her confused and then realized she was serious.

"1999." He told her. Realization dawned on her - it was her senior year of high school just before the prom. Which also meant that Angel was going to break up with her soon.

"I have to go." She told him and without any further explanation sprinted away from the school towards Angel's mansion. As she approached she saw her mom walking away and it dawned on her that this event was likely the catalyst for his breaking up with her. Buffy marched into the house startling Angel.

"Buffy, shouldn't you be at school?" He asked, startled by her entrance. She stood there for a moment unsure of what to do. A large part of her wanted to run up and kiss him, being happy to be alive and what not. But another part of her wanted to return from where she came and run back to Riley. Riley. He was but a distant memory to her, fading really as his presence wavered from this new reality. She quickly put the pieces together and figured she was here for a reason and she needed to put things the way they're supposed to be.

"Yeah I am but first I need to talk to you." She told him, in a very serious way. Angel took a large gulp, afraid of what she might say, "I don't know what my mom told you or what you're thinking but leaving me wouldn't be the right thing to do. You might want me to live in the light but I can't. If you leave me I'll try but in the end I'll wind up right back here." Buffy chuckled a little bit realizing the literal truth of that statement. "Let's face it. Doomed or not our love is real and strong and the thing that makes us powerful. Just as you are a Vampire, I am the slayer and my place isn't amongst the hoi polloi in the shopping market. It's here. With you."

Angel looked at her, at something of a loss for what to say. "But if I stay, I'm not giving you the choice." He told her.

"You don't get it. I've lived this life if you leave. I can't explain it, not in any short period of time really but my life is literally incomplete without you. And trust me, I wish it weren't like this and I wish I had more of a choice in the matter but it's you. And whether it's now or in 8 years you're going to realize it too but for god sake let it be now. I don't think I can do this again." She pleaded, tears escaping her ducts.

He looked at her meaningfully, unsure of what she meant but comprehending it nonetheless. He heard the echoes of Joyce's concerns but they were nothing compared to the ferocity of Buffy's speech. The knowing way she looked at him and the absolute certainty that he couldn't leave her.

"I love you." He told her and stepped forward and placed his hand on her right cheek. His face looked torn for a moment, unsure of what to do when she kissed him. It was soft and sweet, appropriate really but still unexpected. "And I'll never leave you, Buffy." He told her and she smiled feeling as though her life had reached a balance it had been missing for years.

* * *

**Epilogue**

Eight Years Later:

"Well, that was annoying." Buffy told Angel irritably as she dropped the stake on the kitchen table.

"It could have been a lot worst Buffy. Imagine if that cult had been able to open the portal...Nanaka would have walked free!" Angel pointed out to Buffy who seemed to not care.

"No. I get it, really, we saved the world." Buffy rolled her eyes in boredom.

Angel tried to glare at her but a smile shone through. It was moments like these where he loved his life, these simple mundane conversations after saving the world.

"Woah, deja vu." Buffy said, her brows furrowed. She shook her head as the feeling passed and started looking through take out menus to decide on dinner. About a week after stepping through the portal, Buffy's former life was all but a dream. All that remained was the gut wrenching feeling that whatever her friends or family said, being with Angel was the right decision, and in a way the fated decision.

When the Initiative came into Sunnydale, Buffy and Angel were able to shut the operation down before Adam threatened the world. Cutting their losses, the government completely disbanded all attempts to combat or capture the supernatural, leaving that to the 'experts'.

Riley Finn went on with his life having never gotten to know the slayer. He entered some other 'top secret' assignment and led a happy and somewhat normal life.

Buffy and Angel would continue to fight the good fight.

**The End**

**

* * *

**

_Author's Really Long Note:_

Alright, so there's the end. A bit unexpected? A cop out? Maybe. Maybe not. First of all, I really don't like author's notes in chapter, not because I don't like to hear what the author says just that I find they inadvertently spoil their own story and I didn't want to do that. So on that note, I did in fact get all of your feedback and simply didn't respond because, well, I like to torture my audience? No, I just didn't want to say anything.

So why did I create this epic Riley/Buffy love if it was an Angel/Buffy story? Well, this story was really all about Buffy and her own journey and the choices she made. It was also supposed to be a very human story. Imagine you fall in love with a guy when you're 15 and he up and leaves three years later never to be heard from again. Eventually, you are going to move on. And I tried to make Riley the ideal human for Buffy. So the idea was that she's an adult and not about to leave her long term relationship for a guy she hasn't seen in eight years.

Why was it necessary for her to be so in love with Riley? I wanted it to be tough. I've read a lot of stories about Buffy being with a guy and then seeing Angel and being like 'hey, I'm over it'. First off, I don't think the idea of being in love more than once is unusual. Especially with a guy as solid and put together as Riley. So it makes sense, especially since as I tried to make it apparent she's attempting to put as much of the Slayer behind her as possible.

Why the cop out ending? A few reasons really. First of all, I love time travel. That simple. Go back in time? Yes! Remember it? No. But the fact the she experienced all this is neccessary nonetheless. Second, the jumped through a portal which conveniently brought her to the same episode Angel broke up with her! Hello! Fate! That was fun and necessary. And last, I really couldn't think of a good way of ending it without her 'fixing' the past. And I actually like Riley and didn't want him heart broken.

Alright now here's something I want to throw out there. While Buffy went through the portal, that other reality still hypothetically exists. So it is up to you to decide how you want them to move on with Buffy dead. Who knows, maybe I'll write a sequel, probably not but you never know.

Well, it's been a blast and I'm somewhat sorry but more relieved it's over. I want to thank everyone for the unprecedented number of reviews and the support and even the criticism :). I'm off to write a Smallville/Stargate story so until next time...


End file.
